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I.TTBRA^RY 

1 

OF  THE 

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\       Theological    Seminar 

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PinNCETON,    N.  J. 

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1850 

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EGYPT 


THE   BOOKS  OF  MOSES, 


^ 


OB 


THE  BO'JKS  OF  MOSES  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE 
MONUMENTS  OF  EGYPT  : 

«     -: 

V  WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 


DR..^E.   W.  "^HENGSTENBERG, 

PROFESSOR  OF  THEOL.  AT  BERLIN. 


FROM  THE  GERMAN 


f^Y  B.  D.  C.  ROBBINS, 
ox  |§p;SiDENT,  THEOL.   SEM.,  ANDOVEE. 


NEW-YORK: 

ROBERT   CARTER  &  BROTHERS. 
1850. 


PREFACE. 


The  recent  interest  in  the  subject  of  Egyptian  antiquities 
began  with  the  publication  of  the  works  of  CJiampollion 
the  younger,  about  twenty  years  ago.  Since  his  rfieath,  which 
occurred  in  1832,  these  researches  have  been  prosecuted 
with  much  zeal,  by  several  of  his  scholars  and  other  distin- 
guished archaeologists.  Two  of  the  learned  men  of  Holland, 
professors  Reuvens  and  Leemans,  have  made  important  con- 
tributions to  the  subject,  derived  in  part  from  the  treasures  of 
the  Leyden  Museum.  The  results  of  the  labors  of  Rosel- 
lini,  professor  of  oriental  languages  and  antiquities  at  Pisa, 
are  of  the  Wghest  value.  In  1829,  he  and  his  brother 
accompanied  Champollion  in  the  scientific  expedition  to 
Egypt,  which  was  undertaken  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the 
governments  of  France  and  Tuscany.  Champollion,  just  be- 
fore his  death,  committed  to  him  the  honorable  office  of 
bringing  before  the  world  the  result  of  their  associated  labors 
and  studies.  The  first  part  of  the  great  work  of  Rosel- 
lini,  which  is  yet  incomplete,  appeared  in  1832,  at  Pisa,  in 
folio,  entitled,  "  I  monumenti  dell'  Egitto  e  della  Nubia  di- 
segnati  della  Spedizione  scientifico-letteraria  toscana  in 
Egitto,  distribuiti  in  ordine  di  materie,  interpretati  ed  illus- 
trati."  Through  the  liberality  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tus- 
cany, it  is  brought  out  in  the  highest  style  of  typography. 


IV  PREFACE. 

It  consists  of  a  series  of  treatises  which  embrace  the  most 
important  results  of  the  investigations  into  the  history  and 
civil  institutions  of  the  ancient  Pharaoh-dynasties  under  the 
Pagan,  Greek  and  Roman  dominion.  The  contents  of  the 
work  are  as  rich  as  the  plan  is  comprehensive.  It  abounds 
in  researches  relating  to  the  languages,  civil  history,  and 
history  of  the  arts  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Rosellini 
published  in  Rome,  in  1837,  in  quarto,  a  valuable  Egyptian 
grammar,  entitled,  "  Elementae  Linguae  Egyptiacae,  vulgo 
Copticae." 

In  this  interesting  field  of  research,  several  Englishmen 
have  acquired  high  distinction.  Among  these  are  Dr.  Young, 
Major  Felix,  Lord  Prudhoe  and  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson. 
Dr.  Young  shares  with  Champollion  the  honor  of  having  first 
indicated  the  right  method  of  deciphering  the  hieroglyphical 
language.  To  Mr.  Wilkinson  justly  belongs  the  encomium 
which  he  has  himself  bestowed  on  Rosellini.  "He  is  a 
man  of  erudition  and  a  gentleman,  and  one  whose  enthusi- 
astic endeavors,  stimulated  by  great  perseverance,  are  tem- 
pered by  judgment,  and  that  modesty  which  is  the  character- 
istic of  real  merit."  Mr.  Wilkinson's  principal  works  on 
Egypt  are  contained  in  nine  volumes,  namely,  *'A  general 
View  of  Egypt,  and  Topography  of  Thebes,"  in  two  vols,  (a 
new  edition  was  published  in  1843)  and  "  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  including  their  private  life, 
government,  laws,  arts,  manufactures,  religion,  and  early 
history,"  in  two  series  of  three  volumes  in  each.  A  second 
edition  of  the  first  series  was  published  in  1842.  These 
works  are  full  of  most  valuable  materials,  accompanied  with 
many  fine  illustrations.     They  everywhere  exhibit  that  cau- 


PREFACE.  V 

tion,  sound  judgment,  modesty  and  enthusiasm,  which  greatly 
delight  the  reader.  At  the  same  time,  the  arrangement  is 
suscepnble  of  improvement,  while  the  style  is  somewhat 
heavy,  and  wanting  in  precision  and  scholar-like  finish.  It 
is  delightful  to  observe  the  reverence  with  which  the  author 
regards  the  sacred  volume,  and  the  gratification  which  every 
undoubted  illustration  of  its  authenticity  affords  him.  He 
has  now,  for  the  fourth  time,  we  believe,  taken  up  his  abode 
in  Egypt. 

Another  distinguished  investigator  in  these  fascinating 
studies  is  Dr.  Richard  Lepsius,  a  native  of  Naumburg  in 
Prussia.  He  published,  in  1834,  a  prize  dissertation  entitled 
"  Palaeographie  als  Mittel  fiir  die  Sprachforschung  zunachst 
am  Sanscrit  nachgewiesen."  His  studies  led  him  to  Turin 
and  then  to  Rome,  where  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  two 
corresponding  secretaries  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  there. 
In  1842,  Dr.  Lepsius  was  sent  to  Egypt  by  the  Prussian  gov- 
ernment, in  connection  with  a  number  of  other  learned  men. 
He  is  reaping  "  a  rich  harvest  on  this  earliest  scene  of  the 
history  of  mankind."  If  the  results  of  the  expedition  corres- 
pond to  the  promises  of  the  commencement,  much  new  light 
will  be  thrown  on  the  ancient  condition  of  Egypt. 

These  researches  derive  special  importance  from  the  light 
which  they  cast  upon  the  Old  Testament  records,  especially 
upon  the  Mosaic  history.  An  incidental,  undesigned,  but 
most  valuable  proof  is  thus  drawn  from  witnesses  that  cannot 
lie  in  favor  of  the  trustworthiness  of  those  records.  "  Paintings, 
numerous  and  beautiful  beyond  conception,  as  fresh  and  per- 
fect as  if  finished  only  yesterday,"  exhibit  before  our  eyes  the 
truth  of  what  the  Hebrew  lawgiver  wrote,  almost  five  thou- 


VI  PREFACE. 

sand  years  ago.  The  authenticity  of  the  documents  of  our 
faith  thus  rests,  not  on  manuscripts  and  written  records  alone, 
but  the  hardest  and  most  enduring  substances  in  nature  have 
added  their  unsuspecting  testimony. 

"  Egyptian  history  and  the  manners  of  the  most  ancient 
nations,"  Mr.  Wilkinson  remarks,  ''  cannot  but  be  interesting 
to  every  one,  and  so  intimately  connected  are  they  with  the 
scriptural  accounts  of  the  Israelites  and  the  events  of  suc- 
ceeding ages  relative  to  Judea,  that  the  name  of  Egypt  need 
only  to  be  mentioned  to  recal  the  early  impressions  we  have 
received  from  the  study  of  the  Bible." 

It  is  the  object  of  the  present  volume  to  collect  and  apply 
the  results  obtained  by  these  and  numerous  other  authors 
as  far  as  they  relate  to  the  Books  of  Moses.  This  had  not 
been  done  before  the  appearance  of  this  work  in  1840. 
Even  the  most  recent  German  commentators  are  sadly  de- 
ficient in  this  respect.  They  have  scarcely  made  any  advance 
upon  the  works  of  Spencer  and  Le  Clerc,  who  wrote  more 
than  a  century  ago.  Some  of  the  other  works  of  the  author 
of  this  volume,  Dr.  E.  W.  Hengstenberg,  are  too  well  known 
in  this  country  to  render  a  statement  of  his  general  qualifica- 
tions for  the  work  which  he  has  here  undertaken  necessary. 
It  may,  however,  be  proper  to  say  that  he  has  made  the  Penta- 
teuch a  subject  of  special  study,  and  probably  no  one  in 
Germany  or  elsewhere  has  devoted  more  attention  to  that 
interesting,  but  too  much  neglected  portion  of  the  sacred  vol- 
ume. His  situation  as  Professor  at  Berlin  also  gave  him  access 
to  the  rich  collection  of  Egyptian  antiquities  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  and  the  reader  is  left  to  judge  whether  he  has  not 
made  good  use  of  his  advantages. 


PREFACE.  vii 

The  form  of  the  work  has  been  somewhat  changed  in  the 
translation.  The  references  to  authorities,  which  in  the  orig- 
inal volume  were  in  the  text,  are  thrown  to  the  bottom  of  the 
page.  Nearly  all  of  the  italic  headings  have  been  inserted.  In 
a  very  few  cases  notes,  which  it  was  thought  would  add  more 
to  the  size  than  value  of  the  volume  to  an  English  reader, 
have  been  omitted  or  abridged.  In  one  instance  a  long  note 
from  another  untranslated  work  of  the  author  has  been 
inserted  in  the  text.  The  very  few  notes  at  the  end  have 
been  added  by  the  translator.  It  was  his  intention  to  insert 
many  more  but  they  have  been  unavoidably  omitted. 

The  translator  is  under  great  obligations  to  Prof.  H.  B. 
Hackett  of  Newton  Theological  Seminary,  who  consented 
to  listen  to  a  large  part  of  the  manuscript  before  it  was  print- 
ed, and  make  such  corrections  as  his  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  German  language  suggested.  Much  valuable  advice 
and  assistance  has  also  been  received  from  Professor  B.  B. 
Edwards  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

Mdover,  Sept.  1843. 


CONTENTS 


NEGATIVE   PART. 


Material  used  for  Building  in  Egypt, 

The  Animals  of  Egypt  and  the  Pentateuch, 

Use  of  Animal  Food  in  Egypt, 

Winds  of  Egypt, 

Cultivation  of  the  Vine  in  Egypt, 

Origin  of  Civilization  in  Egypt, 

Use  of  Iron  in  Egypt, 


Pago. 

3 

7 

8 

12 

18 
19 


POSITIVE  PART. 
CHAPTER  1. 

The  History  of  Joseph.    Gen.  chaps,  xxxvii — xl. 

Joseph  carried  to  Egypt  and  sold  to  Potiphar,  ...  23 

Joseph's  Exaltation, 24 

Joseph's  Temptation  and  the  Morals  of  the  Egyptians,     .         .  25 

The  Dream  of  the  Chief  Baker  of  Pharaoh,      ....  27 

Pharaoh's  Dream  and  the  Magicians  of  Egypt,         ...  28 

The  Hair  and  Beard — how  worn  in  Egypt,       ....  30 

Dress  and  Ornaments  of  the  Egyptians,  ....  31 

The  Marriage  of  Joseph, 32 

Joseph  collects  the  Produce  of  the  Seven  Years  of  Plenty,  34 

Famine  in  Egypt  and  the  adjoining  Countries,         ...  35 
Joseph,  his  Brethren,  and  the  Egyptians,  sit  at  an  Entertainment,  37 

The  Practice  of  Divining  by  Cups, 38 

The  Arrival  of  Jacob  and  his  Family  in  Egypt,  and  their  Settle- 
ment in  Goshen, 39 


X  CONTENTS. 

References  of  the  Pentateuch  to  the  Geographical  Features  of 
Egypt. 

The  Land  of  Goshen, 42 

Location  of  Pharaoh's  Treasure-Cities — Pithom  and  Raamses,  47 

The  March  of  the  Israehtes  from  Raamses  to  the  Red  Sea,      .  56 

"  Between  Migdol  and  the  Sea," 60 

History  of  Joseph — Continued. 

Kings  and  Priests,  the  Possessors  of  the  Land  in  Egypt,          .  62 

Embalming,  Lamentation  for  the  Dead,  etc 70 

CHAPTER  IL 

Exodus,  Chapters  I — VII. 

The  Fears  of  Pharaoh  and  his  Severity  to  the  Israelites,          .  79 

Use  of  the  Papyrus  and  Bitumen  in  Egypt,      ....  86 

The  Daughter  of  Pharaoh  finds  the  Child,  Moses,    ...  87 
The  Israelites  directed  to  borrow  of  the  Egyptians  Ornaments,  etc.,  83 

Moses's  Rod, 88 

Writing,  much  practised  in  Egypt, 89 

Preparation  of  Stone  for  Inscriptions,        .....  91 

The  Bastinado, 02 

The  Shoterim  of  the  Israelites,  the  same  as  the  modern    Sheikh 

el-Beled, 92 

The  Duties  of  the  Shoterim, 93 

The  Arrogance  of  the  Pharaohs, .94 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Signs  and  Wonders  in  Egypt. 

The  Connection  of  the   Supernatural  with  the  Natural  in  the 

Plagues  of  Egypt, 96 

Moses's  Rod  changed  to  a  Serpent, 100 

The  First  Plague— the  Water  of  Egypt  changed  to  Blood,       .  106 

The  Second  Plague — the  Frogs, 114 

The  Third  Plague— the  c  35  ,  Gnats, 115 

The  Fourth  Plague— the  Flies, 116 

The  Fifth  Plague— the  Destruction  of  the  Animals  in  Egypt,  119 

The  Sixth  Plague— the  Boils, 119 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


The  Seventh  Plague— the  Tempest, 121 

The  Eighth  Plague— the  Locusts, 124 

The  Ninth  Plague— the  Darkness, 125 

The  Tenth  Plague— the  Death  of  the  Pirst-born  of  the  Egyptians,  128 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Exodus^  Chapters  XIV  and  XV. 

The  Military  Force  of  the  Egyptians,      . 
Musical  Instruments  among  the  Egyptians, 


132 
136 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Materials  and  Arts  employed  in  the  Construction  of  the 
Tabernacle  and  Priests'  Garments. 

Cultivation  of  the  Arts  among  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites,  140 

The  Art  of  Cuttihg-and  Setting  precious  Stones,            .         .  141 

The  Art  of  Purifying  and  Working  Metals,            ...  143 

Skill  in  Carving  Wood, 145 

Use  of  Leather, 146 

Spinning,  Weaving,  and  Embroidery,              ....  147 

Preparation  and  Use  of  Unguents, 150 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Egyptian  References  in  the  Religious  Institutions  of  the  Books 
of  Moses. 

Law  among  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites,       ....  152 

The  Stuff  and  Color  of  the  Priests'  Garments,         ...  153 

Urim  and  Thummim, 158 

The  Cherubim  and  Sphinxes, 161 

The  Figure  and  Significance  of  the  Sphinxes,         .         .         .  162 

The  Cherubim — their  Form  and  Import,         ....  165 

Leviticus,  chap.  xvi.  Azazel,  ......  168 

Numbers,  chap,  xix., 184 

Laws  with  Reference  to  Food,        ......  192 

The  Institution  of  the  holy  Women, 196 

The  Nazarites,         .........  202 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Miscellaneous  Passages. 

The  Genealogical  Table  in  Gen.  x., 208 

Abraham  and  Sarah  in  Egypt — Gen.  xii.,       ....  212 

Genesis  13:10, 214 

Exodus  20:  25, •  214 

The  Festival  of  the   Golden  Calf,  etc.  Exodus  xxxii.  and  Lev. 

17:  7,         .         • 215 

Prohibition  of  Marriage  between  near  Relatives.  Lev.  xviii.,  218 

Defilement  with  Animals    Lev.  18:  23.    Exod.  22:  18,  etc..  219 

Leviticus  24:  10— 12, 220 

Numbers  11:  4, 220 

The  Grass  (helbeh),  n^l-n, 221 

The  Fish,        .        .        '/ 224 

The  Cucumber, 224 

Melons,  e^h-t::?!;*,  .  225 

Onions,  225 

The  Garlic, 226 

Numbers  17: 2, 226 

Deuteronomy  6:  9  and  11:  20, 227 

The  Diseases  of  Egypt  severe.  Deut.  7:  15.  28:  27,  35,60.  Exod. 

15:26, 227 

Cultivation  of  the  Land  in  Egypt  and  Palestine.  Deut.  11: 10, 11,  229 

Deuteronomy  17:  16, 234 

Kind  Treatment  of  the  Israelites  by  Individual  Egyptians.  Deut. 

23:  8  (7), 235 

Deuteronomy  23:  12,  13, 236 

Threshing  with  Oxen.  Deut.  25:  4 237 

Deuteronomy  28:  56, 237 

Deuteronomy  5:  15.  4:  20.  6:  20seq.   7:  8,  etc.,      ...  238 


APPENDIX. 

Manctho  and  the  Hycsos. 

I.  Manetho,  241 

II.  The  Hycsos  of  Manetho, 260 

Notes,  280 


EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


NEGATIVE   PART. 

It  is  incumbent  on  us,  first,  in  the  negative  part  of  our 
inquiry,  to  disprove  the  pretended  "  mistakes  and  inaccu- 
racies" of  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  relation  to  Egypt. 
By  these,  as  has  lately  been  asserted,  he  has  betrayed,  that 
he  lived  out  of  Egypt  and  long  after  the  time  of  Moses. 


Material  used  for  Building  in  Egypt. 

The  author,  says  von  B  o  h  1  e  n,*  comes  under  strong  suspi- 
cion of  having  transferred  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  many  things 
from  upper  Asia ;  as,  the  Egyptians  were  accustomed  to  build 
with  hewn  stone,  and  the  great  buildings  of  brick,  Ex.  1:  14, 
instead  of  being  Egyptian,  seem  rather  to  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  Babylonia. 

We  can  scarcely  trust  our  own  eyes,  when  we  read  such 
things.  Is  it  possible  that  any  one,  who  undertakes  to  com- 
ment upon  the  Pentateuch,  and  even  ventures  to  accuse  its 
author  of  ignorance  in  relation  to  Egyptian  affairs,  can  show 
himself  grossly  uninformed  in  these  same  things,  and  make 
assertions  whose  incorrectness  is  conclusively  shown  by  the 
first  good  compendium ! 

^  Einleitung  zur  Genesis,  S.  LV. 


X  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

In  a  case  like  the  one  before  us,  any  one  would  first  of  all 
have  recourse  to  O.  Miiller's  Archaeologia.*  There  we 
read :  "  Building  with  brick  was  very  common  in  Egypt. 
Private  edifices  were  indeed  generally  of  this  material." 

If  we  examine  further,  Herodotust  mentions  a  pyra- 
mid of  brick,  which  is  probably  still  standing.| 

But  we  are  literally  overwhelmed  with  proofs  of  the  abun- 
dant use  of  brick  in  Egypt,  when  we  turn  to  those  who,  dur- 
ing the  present  century,  have  explored  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments. C  h  a  m  p  o  1 1  i  o  n§,  for  example,  speaks  of  a  tomb  built 
of  crude  brick  at  Sais,  and  a  temple  of  brick  at  Wady  Haifa.  1| 
R  o  s  e  11  i  n  i^  says  :  "Ruins  of  great  brick  buildings  are  found 
in  all  parts  of  Egypt.  Walls  of  astonishing  height  and  thick- 
ness are  preserved  to  the  present  time,  as,  for  example,  the 
circumvallation  of  Sais;  also  whole  pyramids,  as  those  of 
Dashoor,  and  a  great  number  of  the  ruins  of  monuments,  both 
great  and  small."  W  il  k  inson**  says:  "  The  use  of  crude 
brick,  baked  in  the  sun,  was  universal  in  upper  and  lower 
Egypt,  both  for  public  and  private  buildings.  Enclosures  of 
gardens  and  granaries,  sacred  circuits  encompassing  the 
courts  of  temples,  walls  of  fortifications  and  towns,  dwelling- 
houses  and  tombs,  in  short,  all  but  the  temples  themselves, 
were  of  crude  brick."  The  same  author  shows  that  building 
with  brick  was  practised  even  in  very  early  times,  since  the 
bricks  themselves,  both  in  Thebes  and  the  neighborhood  of 
Memphis,  often  bear  the  names  of  the  monarchs  who  ruled 
Egypt  in  that  early  age. 

*  §  296.  t  2.  136. 

X  See  liahr  upon  the  passage.    Mannert  Geog.  10.  1.  S.  444,  67. 
§   In  den  Briefen  aus  Aeg.  S.  14  der.  Deutsch.  Uebers. 
II  S.  83. 

1i  I  monumenti  dell'  Egitto  e  della  Nubia,  II.  2.  p.  249. 
**  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.  London,  1S42. 
Vol.  II.  p.  Jt(i. 


ANIMALS  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH.  3 

The  Animals  of  Egypt  and  the  Pentateuch. 

The  author,  remarks  v.  Bohlen  further  in  the  passage 
referred  to,  supposes  the  existence  of  camels  and  asses  in 
Egypt.  The  allegation,  as  fully  stated  by  him  with  his  rea- 
sons,* is  as  follows;  "  The  narrator  mentions  the  animals 
of  his  own  native  land,  a  part  of  which  Abraham  could  not 
receive  in  Egypt.  Gen.  45:23.  47:17.  Ex.  9:3.  He 
ascribes  to  him  no  horses  which  were  native  to  Egypt,  as 
the  relator  indeed  is  aware,  Gen.  41:  43.  47:  17;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  mentions  sheep,  which  are  found  in 
the  marsh  lands  of  Egypt  as  seldom  as  camels  (hence  these 
last  are  denied  to  the  country  by  the  ancient  writers)  and 
asses,  which  were  specially  odious  to  the  Egyptians  on  ac- 
count of  their  color." 

It  is  said  in  the  passage  designated  :  "  And  he  [Pharaoh] 
entreated  Abraham  well  for  her  sake ;  and  he  had  sheep, 
and  oxen,  and  he-asses,  and  men  servants,  and  maid  ser- 
vants, and  she-asses,  and  camels." 

We  inquire,  first,  why  the  horse  is  not  also  among  the 
presents.  Even  v.  Bohlen  dares  not  assert  that  this  cir- 
cumstance is  accounted  for,  by  supposing  that  the  author  did 
not  know  how  abundant  horses  were  in  Egypt.  In  the  enu- 
meration of  the  animals  of  the  Egyptians,  in  Gen.  47:  17, 
horses  stand  first,  also  in  Ex.  9:  3.  The  rearing  of  horses 
is  considered  in  the  Pentateuch  as  so  peculiar  to  Egypt,  that 
in  Deut.  17:  16,  it  is  represented  as  possible,  that  an  Israel- 
itish  king,  merely  from  love  to  the  horse,  might  wish  to  lead 
back  the  people  to  Egypt.  If  now  the  reason  why  horses 
are  not  mentioned  cannot  be  found  on  the  part  of  the  giver, 
it  must  be  found  with  the  receiver.  It  appears  that  horses 
were  not  yet  in  use  among  the  Israelites,  either  in  peace  or 
war,  at  the  time  of  Joshua  and  the  Judgest.     They  were 

*  S.  163,  upon  Gen.  12:  16. 

t  See  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Mosaic  Laws.  Eng.  Trans.  Vol.  II.  p.  434 


4  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tirst  commonly  used  in  the  time  of  the  kings.  But  if  the 
horse  was  not  yet  used  by  the  Israelites,  at  the  time  of  Joshua 
and  the  Judges,  much  less  was  it  surely  in  the  age  of  the 
Pentateuch,  when  the  main  object,  which  the  keeping  of 
horses  subserved  in  Egypt,  did  not  exist.*  If  now  this  is 
the  reason  why  the  horse  does  not  appear  in  the  enumeration 
of  the  presents,  it  is  entirely  in  favor  of  the  true  historical 
character  and  Mosaic  origin  of  the  narration.  If  it  owed  its 
origin  to  the  poetic  tradition  of  the  time  of  the  kings,  horses 
would  certainly  have  been  mentioned,  since  we  cannot  sup- 
pose that  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  them  was  accurately 
known,  and  still  less  that  the  tiction  was  so  carefully  managed 
for  the  sake  of  maintaining  historical  consistency.  But  we 
need  not  stop  with  merely  the  present  passage.  The  Pen- 
tateuch in  other  places  continually  implies  that  in  the  ancient 
times  with  which  it  is  concerned,  there  were  no  horses  among 
the  patriarchs  and  their  descendants.  "  Moses,"  says  M  i- 
c  h  a  e  1  i  s,  "  repeatedly  describes  to  us  the  riches  of  the  Pa- 
triarchs, as  consisting  of  their  herds,  among  which,  while 
oxen,  sheep,  goats,  camels  and  asses  are  enumerated,  we 
never  once  find  horses  mentioned."!  The  tabernacle  was 
drawn  by  oxen  in  the  desert.  Num.  7:  3.  That  a  great 
number  of  horses  could  not  be  conveniently  kept  in  Egypt, 
is  implied  in  Deut.  17:  IG.  These  facts,  according  to  mo- 
dern views  respecting  the  Pentateuch,  are  entirely  inexplica- 
ble. They  compel  us  at  least  to  the  assumption,  that  the 
composition  of  the  narration  precedes  the  time  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  kingdom,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
attempts  to  refer  the  substance  of  the  history  in  the  books 

*  Taylor's  Illust.  of  the  Bible  from  the  monuments  of  Egypt.  Lon- 
don, Ifi'iS.  p.  5.  "From  the  monuments  we  learn  that  horses  were 
used  exclusively  [more  accurately,  preeminently]  in  war,  especially 
for  drawing  chariots,  in  which  the  most  distinguished  Egyptian  war- 
liors  rode  to  battle." 

t  Mich.  Mos.  Laws.  Eng.  Trans.  Vol.  IL  p.  436.  Compare  Gen. 
20:  14.  5i4:  35.  26:  14.  30:  41.  32:  6,  8,  15,  16, 


ANIMALS  OF  EGYPT  AND  THE  PENTATEUCH.  5 

of  Joshua  and  Judges  to  later  times,  have  also  a  formidable 
obstacle  in  the  apparently  trivial  circumstance,  that  in  them 
the  horse  is  not  represented  as  in  use.  Let  it  be  borne  in 
mind  here,  that  vi'e  find  nowhere  a  historical  notice  of  the 
time  of  the  introduction  of  horses,  that  they  were  in  all  pro- 
bability introduced  gradually,  and  that  the  Israelites  did  not 
probably  know  that  which  a  scholar  of  the  last  century,  by  a 
laborious  comparison  of  many  scattered  passages,  has  made 
entirely  certain. 

It  has  occurred  to  no  one  before  v.  Bohlen  to  deny, 
that  there  were  asses  in  Egypt.  All  of  the  authors  who 
speak  of  the  hatred  of  the  Egyptians  to  this  animal,  imply 
that  it  existed  there.*  How,  also,  could  they  otherwise  have 
been  sacrificed  to  Typhon.  Swine  too  were  considered  un~ 
clean  in  Egypt,  yet  they  were  kept.f  He  and  she-asses  ap- 
pear in  great  numbers  on  the  monuments.  The  former  were 
commonly  used  for  riding — we  find  them  represented  with 
rich  trappings, — the  latter  as  beasts  of  burden. I  A  single 
individual  is  represented  on  the  monuments,  as  having  760 
of  them,  which  makes  it  evident  that  they  were  very  nu- 
merous.§ 

The  assertion  that  sheej)  were  not  found  in  Egypt,  every 
modern  manual  of  Geography  confutes.  Ukert]!  says, 
"Sheep  are  found  in  great  numbers  in  Egypt.  Their  wool 
is  an  important  article  of  trade,  and  their  flesh  is  the  most 
common  which  comes  upon  the  table."^  Ancient  authors 
often  mention  the  sheep  of  Egypt.  According  to  H  e  r  o  d  o- 
t  u  s,**  rams  were   considered  sacred  by  the  Thebans,  and 

*  Co-npare  the  passage  in  Schmidt,  de  sacerd.  et  sacrif.  Aeg.  p.  283. 
t  Herod.  2.  47,  48.  Schmidt,  p.  269.  t  Taylor,  pp.  6,  7. 

§   Wilkinson,  Vol.  III.  p.  34. 
II  Nordhalfte  von  Afrika,  S.  169. 

H  Compare,  on  rearing  sheep  in  Egypt,  Girard  in  the  Description, 
t.  17.  p.  129  seq. 
**  2.  41  and  2.  42. 

1* 


6  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

sheep  wer^  sacrificed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Mendesian 
nome  in  the  Delta.  Plutarch  says,  the  Lycopolites  ate  the 
flesh  of  sheep,  and  according  to  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s*,  the  sheep  pro- 
duced their  young  twice  in  a  year  and  were  twice  shorn. 
Sheep  appear  on  the  monuments  often  and  in  great  numbers. 
Large  herds  of  them  were  kept  especially  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Memphis.  Sometimes  the  flocks  consisted  of  more  than 
two  thousand. t 

That  the  camel  existed  in  ancient  Egypt  is  indeed  proba- 
ble from  the  analogy  of  the  present  time.l  It  is  acknow- 
Jedged  that  they  have  not  yet  been  found  delineated  on  the 
monuments,^  except  those  scattered  traces  which  Minuto- 
1  i  II  thinks  that  he  discovered  on  the  obelisks  of  Luxor.  But 
this  circumstance,  at  most,  only  proves  that  camels  were  not 
very  abundant  in  Egypt,  and  even  that  not  with  entire  cer- 
tainty. The  Pentateuch  itself  also  intimates  the  same  thing, 
since  in  the  passage  under  consideration,  camels  are  men- 
tioned last,  and  in  chap.  45:  23,  not  at  all.  A  multitude  of 
objects  which  can  be  demonstrated  to  have  existed  among 

*  1.  36  and  87. 

t  See  Wilk.  Vol.  II.  p.  368.  Champollion,  Briefe,  S.  51,  accord- 
ing to  whom  the  treading  down  of  the  ground  by  rams  is  represented 
m  the  grottoes  of  Beni  Hassan,  53. 

X  Ukert,  S.  160.  Girard  in  the  Description,  t.  17.  p.  128,  says : 
"  The  camels  which  are  used  in  SaKd  for  the  transportation  of  all 
kinds  of  freight,  unless  it  is  sent  by  water  upon  the  Nile  or  upon  the 
canals,  are  inferior  in  size  and  strength  to  those  in  Lower  Egypt. 
The  raising  of  these  animals  is  one  of  the  chief  employments  of  the 
Arabs  who  dwell  upon  the  borders  of  the  valley  of  Egypt.  They 
furnish  the  markets  of  different  provinces  with  them.  The  camels 
which  are  used  for  the  transportation  of  th«  harvest  do  not  always 
belong  to  the  husbandman.  He  hires  them  as  he  needs  them.  Dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  the  year,  he  makes  use  of  the  ass.  There  is  no 
land-owner  who  does  not  possess  several  asses,"  etc.  According  to 
t.  15,  p.  215  of  tlie  Descr.  the  camels  of  the  Delta  are  less  valued  than 
those  of  the  provinces  which  border  upon  the  desert. 

§  Wilk.  I.  p.  351.  II  Reise,  S.  203. 


USE  OP  ANIMAL  FOOD.  7 

the  ancient  Egyptians  are  wanting  in  their  paintings.  In 
the  numerous  hunting  scenes,  for  example,  the  wild  boar  is 
not  seen,  although  it  is  a  native  of  Egypt.  The  wild  ass, 
which  is  common  in  the  deserts  of  Thebaid,  is  also  not  met 
with.*  Even  fowls  and  pigeons,  which  Egypt  had  in  so 
great  abundance,  do  not  appear,  while  "geese  are  repeatedly 
introduced."?  Of  other  objects  which,  although  they  cer- 
tainly existed,  are  not  found  upon  the  monuments,  the  same 
author  speaks,  on  page  254,  Vol.  Ill,  with  which  compare 
too  what  is  said  on  page  344  of  the  same  Vol.  concerning 
the  great  deficiency  of  the  monuments. 


Use  of  Animal  Food  in  Egypt. 

"The  author,"  says  v.  Bohlen,|  "represents  Joseph, 
Gen.  43:  16,  in  most  manifest  opposition  to  the  sacredness 
of  beasts  to  prepare  flesh  for  food."  In  his  commentary]!  it  is 
said  :  "  The  Egyptians  partake,  at  most,  of  consecrated  flesh- 
offerings,  and  the  higher  castes,  especially  the  priests  with 
whom  Joseph  was  connected  by  marriage,  abstain  entirely 
from  animal  food."  Further  :§  "The  hatred  of  this  people 
to  foreign  shepherds  is  founded  on  the  inviolableness  of  ani- 
mals, especially  of  neat  cattle,  goats  and  sheep  (the  author 
forgets  he  has  denied  the  existence  of  these  animals  in 
Egypt),  which  were  killed  by  the  shepherds,  but  accounted 
sacred  by  the  Egyptians." 

Our  astonishment  at  the  condition  of  our  great  critic's 
knowledge  of  Egypt  is  here  again  not  a  little  increased,  and 
the  credulity,  with  which  so  many  use  such  an  author's  work 
on  India  as  good  authority,  becomes,  after  the  successive  de- 
velopments of  his  ignorance,  unaccountable  to  us.  No  one 
before  v.  B  o  h  1  e  n  has  ever  thought  of  asserting  that  the 
Egyptians  abstain  from  all    animal  food.     The  contrary  is 

*  Wilk.  III.  p.  21.  t  Wilk.  p.  35. 

X  S.  LV.  §   S.  397,  upon  Gen.  43:  16. 

II  S.  399. 


8  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

found  in  all  works  of  acknowledged  authority, 
for  example,  says :  **  Oxen  are  commonly  used  for  food  and  of- 
ferings." AndBeck:t  "The  Egyptians  abstain  from  the 
flesh  of  several  animals,  some  of  them  sacred,  as  the  cow, 
and  some  of  them  otherwise,  as  from  swine's  flesh."  How 
also  can  any  one  doubt  that  the  Egyptians  ate  flesh,  when 
Herodotus  alone  furnishes  abundant  proof  of  the  fact? 
According  to  2.  18,  cows  only,  not  oxen,  were  sacred  among 
the  Egyptians;  in  2.  168,  the  quantity  of  the  flesh  of  oxen 
received  daily,  by  each  Egyptian  warrior,  is  mentioned.  Ac^ 
cording  to  2.  69,  even  crocodile's  flesh  was  eaten  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Elephantine ;  but  the  most  important  passage  is 
2.  37,  where  it  is  said  that  the  Egyptian  priests  receive  each 
day  a  large  portion  of  flesh. |  Even  P  o  r  p  h  y  r  y§  himself 
merely  says,  that  at  certain  times  the  Egyptian  priests  abstain 
from  animal  food.  In  this  state  of  things  we  scarcely  need 
to  take  the  trouble  to  mention,  that  upon  the  monuments,  in 
kitchen  scenes  and  the  delineation  of  feasts,  animal  food  ap- 
pears in  abundance.il 


The  Winds  of  Egypt. 

"The  author,"  we  read  further  in  v.  Bohlen,^]  "mis- 
takes so  materially  with  regard  to  the  natural  phenomena  of 
the  country,  that  he  transfers  there  the  scorching  east  wind 
of  Palestine,"  Gen.  41:  6,  and  represents  the  ebb  in  the 
Red  Sea  as  produced  by  this  same  wind.  In  his  commen- 
tary** on  the  passage  above  referred  to,  it  is  said.  When 
there  is  a  cool  and  refreshing  east  wind  along  the  Arabian 


"  In  den  Ideen,  Aegypten,  S.  170. 

t   In  d.T  Weltgeschichtp,  1,1.  S.  7G3. 

X  Kal  y.(}tojv  (ivto}V  nal  x?j%'tojv  -rrXi'^xf-ug  ti  txdotiu  yiverm  ttoXXw 
7/ui^tg  f-xnoTT/e. 

§    In  Schmidt,  J).  62.  II   Wilk.  Vol.  II.  p.  3G8. 

V  S.  LVI.  **  S.  381. 


WINDS  OF  EGYPT.  9 

Gulf  in  Egypt,  it  is  cut  off  from  the  Nile  by  the  eastern 
mountain  range,  the  Mokattam,  and  cannot  even  press  in, 
much  less  then  scorch  the  ears  of  corn.*  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  the  south  which  is  the  hot  wind  in  Egypt.t  A  simi- 
lar error  is  found  in  Ex.  1^.  13,  where  the  locusts  should 
be  represented  as  coming  with  the  south  wind  out  of  Nubia. 

We  will  first  examine  Gen.  41:  6,1  where  the  seven  thin 
ears,  and  "  blasted  with  the  east  wind,"  are  mentioned. 

The  quotation  from  A  b  d  o  1 1  a  t  i  p  h,  by  which  it  is  said  to 
be  proved,  that  there  is  no  east  wind  in  Egypt,  is  not  con- 
clusive. That  author  himself  shows§  that  he  does  not  in- 
tend to  be  understood  as  speaking  of  all  of  Egypt,  and  par- 
ticularly not  of  the  part  with  which  we  are  here  concerned, 
the  Delta:  "For  this  reason  without  doubt  the  ancient 
Egyptians  chose  for  the  residence  of  their  kings,  Memphis 
and  the  places  which  like  Memphis  are  most  remote  from 
the  eastern  mountains." 

It  is  conceded,  that  there  is  seldom  a  wind  directly  from 
the  east  or  west  in  Egypt. ||  But  there  is  oftentimes  a  south- 
east wind,  which  is  precisely  the  one  to  produce  the  effects 
which  are  here  ascribed  to  the  east  wind ;  and  besides,  it 
blows  commonly  at  the  time  in  which  these  things  are  under- 
stood to  have  taken  place,  before  the  corn  harvest,  which  in 
Egypt  is  in  March  and  April. ^ 

Ukert**  thus  sums  up  the  accounts  of  modern  travellers 
with  regard  to  the  east  wind  :  "  In  the  spring  the  south  wind 
oftentimes  springs  up  towards  the  south-east,  increasing  to  a 
whirlwind,  etc.  The  heat  then  seems  insupportable,  although 
the  thermometer  does  not  always  rise  very  high.  The  south 
wind  is  called  Merisi,  the  south-east,  Asiab  or  Chamsin.  As 
long  as  the  south-east  wind  continues,  doors  and  windows 

*  Abdollatiph,  p.  16.     Hasselquist,  254.  f  Abdollatiph,  p.  19. 

I  Compare  verses  23,  27  of  the  same  chap. 

§  P.  5.  De  Sacy.  ||  RUppell  in  Ukert,  S.  113. 

TI  Nordmeier  calend.  Aeg.  oecon.  p.  29.  **  S,  111, 


10  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

are  closed,  but  the  fine  dust  penetrates  everywhere ;  every- 
thing dries  up ;  wooden  vessels  warp  and  crack.  The  ther- 
mometer rises  suddenly  from  16 — 20  degrees  up  to  30,  36, 
and  even  38  degrees  of  Reaumer.  This  wind  works  de- 
struction upon  everything.  The  grass  withers  so  that  it  en- 
tirely perishes,  if  this  wind  blows  long." 

V  o  1  n  e  y*  says :  "  The  south  and  south-east  wind  produce 
no  dew,  since  they  come  from  the  African  and  Arabian 
deserts.  But  the  north  and  west  winds  bring  the  evapora- 
tions of  the  Mediterranean  to  Egypt.  In  March  the  south- 
east, the  due  south  and  the  south-west  winds  prevail.  Then 
they  become  sometimes  westerly  and  sometimes  northerly 
and  easterly." 

That  this  south-east  wind  is  here  designated  by  the  word, 
D'^'lj?,  which  commonly  signifies,  east  wind,  is  not  surprising, 
since  the  Hebrews  had  terms  only  for  the  four  principal 
winds,  and  besides,  if  a  more  accurate  designation  had  been 
possible,  it  would  still  have  been  entirely  unsuitable  here  in 
relating  a  dream.  But  we  can  even  quote  a  traveller  who 
does  not  scruple  to  designate  the  south-east  as  merely  the 
east.  W  anslebt  says:  "  From  Easter  to  Pentecost  is  the 
most  stormy  part  of  the  year;  for  the  wind  commonly  blows, 
during  this  time,  from  the  Red  Sea,  from  the  east." 

So  much  upon  Gen.  41:  6.  We  do  not  trouble  ourselves 
with  Ex.  xvi,  since  the  assertion,  that  the  east  wind  is  not 
the  appropriate  one,  depends  upon  the  arbitrary  supposition, 
that  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  took  place  at  the  time  of  the 
ebb  tide.  There  is  therefore  now  remaining  to  us  only 
Ex.  10:  13. 

V.  B  o  h  1  e  n  is  not  the  first  who  has  thought  the  mention- 
ing of  the  east  wind  here  a  suspicious  circumstance.  B  o- 
c  h  a  r  tj,  as  long  ago  as  his  time,  supposed  that  D"*"!)^  must  in 
this  place  signify  the  south  wind,  since  the  east  wind  could 

*  Voyage  En  Syrio  et  in  Egyple,  t.  1.  pp.  54,  55. 

t   In  Paulus  Rciscn  Th.  III.  p.  18.  X  Hicroz.  3.  p.  287. 


WINDS  OF  EGYPT.  H 

bring  locusts  hither  only  out  of  Arabia,  while  the  south  wind 
would  bring  them  from  Ethiopia,  which  produces  them  in  far 
greater  numbers.  Eichhorn*  says:  "Since  the  locusts, 
from  blind  instinct,  always  move  from  south  to  north,  without 
ever  turning  to  the  east  or  west,  their  swarms  never  come 
out  of  Arabia  to  Egypt,  but  always  from  Ethiopia." 

It  is  certain,  without  argument,  that  the  author  has  here 
neither  used  Q'^'ij^  with  the  signification  of  south  wind,  nor 
inadvertently  named  the  east,  where  the  south  should  be ; 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  with  clear  knowledge  of  the  natu- 
ral relations  of  Egypt,  he  meant  to  say,  that  the  locusts  came 
hither  from  the  east,  from  the  Arabian  Gulf.  This  is  clear 
from  verse  19:  "And  the  Lord  turned  a  mighty,  strong 
west  wind,  which  took  away  the  locusts,  and  cast  them  into 
the  Red  Sea."  The  west  wind,  which  is  expressly  repre- 
sented as  the  opposite  of  a"'1p^,  carries  the  locusts  directly 
back  to  the  region  whence  they  came. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  asserted  that  the  author  betrays 
himself,  and  incautiously  transfers  a  condition  which  belongs 
to  Palestine  to  Egypt.  But  it  is  yet  asked,  Can  the  locusts 
possibly  come  to  Egypt  from  the  east,  from  beyond  the  Ara- 
bian Gulf? 

The  argument  which  Eichhorn  urges  against  this,  that 
the  locusts  always  travel  from  south  to  north,  is  not  tenable. 
C  r  e  d  n  e  r,t  who  in  his  commentary  on  Joel  decidedly  sub- 
stantiates the  correctness  of  the  statement  in  our  passage, 
has  shown  that  they  come  with  every  wind.  It  also  can  be 
no  objection  to  this  opinion,  that  the  swarm  coming  from  the 
east  must  pass  the  Arabian  Gulf.  For  C  r  e  d  n  e  rj:  has  shown, 
that  the  flight  of  the  locusts  is  successfully  made,  not  merely 
over  smaller  channels,  as  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  the  Red 
Sea,§  etc.,  but  over  larger  bodies  of  water,  as  the  Mediterra- 

*  De  Aeg.  anno  mirabili,  p.  26.  t  S.  286.  +  S.  288. 

§  Niebuhr  remarks  that,  the  wind  drives  the  swarms  of  the  locusts 
over  the  Arabian  Gulf  in  its  broadest  part.  Beschr.  S.  169. 


12  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

nean  Sea,  in  case  they  are  favored  by  the  wind.  As  soon  as 
this  fails  them,  changing  to  a  storm,  or  when  a  calm  suc- 
ceeds, the  whole  numberless  swarm  is  precipitated  into  the 
sea,  just  as  it  here  occurred  after  the  locusts  had  accom- 
plished the  work  of  the  Lord  upon  the  Egyptians. 

If  it  is  true,  that  the  locusts  come  from  the  east  not  less 
than  from  the  south,  and  that  the  sea  is  no  hindrance  to 
them,  and  if  it  is  further  settled  that  Arabia  is  one  of  the 
principal  places,  where  the  locusts  are  found,  it  is  also  cer- 
tain that  they  come  from  there  to  Egypt  not  less  than  from 
Nubia.  A  single  case  of  this  kind,  a  plague  of  locusts  of 
peculiar  severity,  which  came  from  the  east  upon  Egypt, 
is  described  by  a  Syrian  writer,  the  continuator  of  B  a  r- 
h e b r  a e u s :*  "In  the  year  1774  (1463,  A.  D.)  many  locusts- 
came  from  the  east.  They  advanced  even  to  Egypt,  de- 
stroyed the  crops,"  etc. 


The  Cultivation  of  the  Vine  in  Egypt. 

Ignorance  of  the  condition  of  Egypt  is  also  said  to  appear 
in  the  dream  of  the  chief  butler  of  Pharaoh. t  In  reference 
to  this,  V.  Bohlenf  remarks:  "An  important  specification 
of  time  for  the  late  origin  of  the  narrative,  is  contained  here 
in  the  dream  of  the  butler,  in  which  the  existence  of  the  vine 
in  Egypt  is  implied.  For,  after  Psamaticus,  consequently 
just  about  the  time  of  Josiah,  had  its  cultivation  first  been 
commenced,  in  a  small  degree,  and  could,  in  a  low  country, 
which  at  the  time  of  the  ripening  of  the  grape  is  overflowed, 
find  entrance  only  at  some  few  points.  The  Egyptians  used 
for  drink  a  kind  of  beer,  in  speaking  of  which,  Herodotus 
explicitly  adds  that  no  vines  grow  in  the  land.  Among  the 
orthodox  Egyptians  it  is  considered   as  the   blood  of  Ty- 

^  In  dem  neuen  Repert.  von  Paulus,  Th.  I.  S.  67. 

t   Gen.  40:  10,  scq.  }  S.  373. 


CULTIVATION  OF  THE  VINE.  13 

phon.     They  did  not  drink  it,  says  Plutarch,  before  the  time 
of  Psamaticus,  and  they  also  did  not  offer  it  in  sacrifice." 

T  u  c  h*  shares  with  v.  B  o  h  I  e  n  unbounded  regard  for 
every  disconnected  saying  of  Plutarch,  which,  if  we  take  into 
view  the  whole  character  of  this  writer,  appears  to  have  very 
poor  foundation.  He  also,  as  well  as  the  author  before  men- 
tioned, has  no  regard  to  the  information  which  the  monu- 
ments have  furnished,  since  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
upon  the  question  concerning  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  in 
Egypt.  He  does  not  even  seem  to  have  noticed  that  which 
Heeren  has  adduced  from  the  Description  of  the  French 
scholars.!  In  vindication  of  the  author  of  the  book  of  Gene- 
sis, he  assumes  that  there  is  no  mention  made  of  wine  in  the 
passage,  but  of  drinking  the  newly  expressed,  unfermented, 
unintoxicating  juice  of  the  grape.  The  procedure  described 
in  the  chapter  supposes  an  evasion,  consequently  the  con- 
tinued existence  of  the  prohibition  of  wine,  and  an  observ- 
ance of  this  prohibition ;  and  it  is  an  escape  from  a  difficulty 
which  besides  him,  Rosen  mueller  has  also  borrowed 
from  J.  D.  M  i  c  h  a  e  1  i  s,|  for  whom  it  was  exceedingly  con- 
venient, but  yet  it  is  nothing  more  than  an  escape  from  diffi- 
culty. It  rests  upon  the  fact  that  one  does  not  pay  attention 
to  what  passes  in  dreaming,  and  it  does  not  take  into  ac- 
count that  the  words,  '^  I  took  the  grapes  and  pressed  them 
into  Pharaoh's  cup,"  if  they  are  separated  from  their  connec- 
tion with  the  dream,  show  a  procedure  in  the  preparation  of 
the  royal  drink,  which  has  nowhere  else  any  analogy.  Be- 
sides, the  employment  of  cup-bearer,  as  a  distinguished  office 
at  court,  could  scarcely  exist,  where  the  drink  and  its  pre- 
paration are  so  extraordinarily  simple — the  latter  such  as  is 
elsewhere  practised  only  by  children.  Still  further,  if  the 
passage  in  Plutarch  be  allowed  to  have  any  force,  we  cannot 

*  In  dem  Comm.  zur  Genesis,  S.  513.  t  Ideen,  Aegypt.  S.  362. 

X  Mos.  Laws,  Vol.  III.  p.  120. 
2 


14  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

even  by  this  explanation  free  ourselves  from  difRculty.  For, 
according  to  Plutarch,  wine  was  considered  by  the  Egyptians 
as  the  blood  of  Typhon,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  product  of 
the  vine,  and  not  in  consequence  of  its  having  previously 
undergone  a  fermentation. 

Even  the  accounts  of  ancient  authors  permit  us  not  to 
doubt,  that  from  the  most  ancient  times,  the  vine  was  cul- 
tivated in  Egypt.  Herodotus  in  many  ways  contributes 
to  this  proof.  Thus,  according  to  him,  dried  grapes  appear 
among  the  things  which  are  placed  in  the  body  of  the  bul- 
lock offered  to  Isis,  together  with  bread,  honey,  etc.*  The 
grapes  can  only  have  reference  to  the  domestic  culture  of 
the  vine.  Also  the  identification  of  Osiris  with  Bacchus  in 
Herodotust  is  an  argument  for  the  origin  of  the  cultiva-" 
lion  of  the  vine  in  Egypt.  Bacchus  and  wine  stood,  at  least 
according  to  the  popular  idea  which  is  all  that  is  here  im- 
portant, in  indissoluble  union.  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s,f  in  like  man- 
ner, not  only  asserts  the  identity  of  Osiris  and  Bacchus,  but 
also  expressly  attributes  to  Osiris  the  discovery  of  the  art  of 
cultivating  the  vine.§  "  But  it  is  said  that  he  first  discovered 
the  vine  near  Nysa,  and  after  having  acquired  skill  in  the 
management  of  its  fruit,  first  made  use  of  wine  himself, 
and  taught  other  men  the  planting  of  the  vine-stock,  the 
gathering  of  the  grapes,  the  drinking  of  wine,  and  its  pre- 
servation." But  the  authority  of  Diodorus  is  of  itself 
sufficient  to  outweigh  that  of  Plutarch.  Further,  ac- 
cording to  Hellanicus  in  Athenaeus,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  vine  was  first  discovered  in  the  Egyptian  city 
Plinthinus.||  But  these  passages  of  ancient  authors  have  no 
longer  much  interest  for  us,  since  we  have  upon  the  monu- 

*  "Quae  pertinent,"  remarks  Creuzer,  Comm.  1.  p.  115,  "ad  fru- 
menta  invenla  vitesque  cultas,"  etc. 

t  2.  42  and  144.  t  In  Book  I.  chap.  11.  §   1.  15. 

II  Compare  this  and  other  passages  quoted  in  Jablonski,  Opusc 
II.  p.  119  seq.  1.432,72. 


CULTIVATION  OF  THE  VINE.  15 

ments  a  testimony  for  the  origin  of  the  culture  of  the  vine  in 
Egypt  far  more  sure,  and  sufficient  in  itself.  How  little  that 
assertion  of  Herodotus*  agrees  with  these  was  first  re- 
marked in  the  Description.!  Since  then,  the  proofs  from  the 
monuments  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  have  very  much 
multiplied,  and  the  fact  may  now,  since  the  appearance  of 
Ch  a  mpoll  ion's  Letters  and  the  Works  of  Rosell in  i 
and  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,  be  considered  as  fully  settled.  According 
to  Champollion  there  are  found  in  the  grottoes  of  Beni 
Hassan,  "  representations  of  the  culture  of  the  vine,  the  vin- 
tage, the  bearing  away  and  the  stripping  off  of  the  grapes, 
two  kinds  of  presses,  the  one  moved  merely  by  the  strength 
of  the  arms,  the  other  by  mechanical  power,  the  putting  up 
of  the  wine  in  bottles  or  jars,  the  transportation  into  the 
cellar,  the  preparation  of  boiled  wine,"|  etc.  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i§ 
has  a  separate  section  on  grape  gathering  and  the  art  of 
making  wine. 

"Numerous,"  says  he,  ''are  the  representations  in  the 
tombs,  which  relate  to  the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  and  these  are 
found,  not  merely  in  the  tombs  of  the  time  of  the  18th 
and  some  later  dynasties,  but  also  in  those  which  belong 
to  the  time  of  the  most  ancient  dynasties."  "  The  described 
pictures,"!!  it  is  said,  "  show  more  decidedly  than  any  ancient 
written  testimony,  that  in  Egypt,  even  in  the  most  ancient 
times,  the  vine  was  cultivated  and  wine  made."  In  the  in- 
scriptions of  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs,  at  least  seven  different 
kinds  of  wine  are  represented,  among  which  is  the  wine  of 

*  2.  77. 

t  T.  6.  p.  124.  ed.  Fancret.  It  is  there  said  :  "  Among  the  nume- 
Tous  details  given  by  Herodotus  concerning  the  diet  of  the  Egyptians, 
this  is  found:  As  they  have  not  the  vine,  they  drink  beer  (2.  77) • 
Our  paintings  prove,  conclusively,  that  the  Egyptians  cultivated  the 
vine,  and  also  made  wine.  Many  critics  have  previously  remarked, 
that  this  observation  of  Herodotus  wants  accuracy." 

±  S.  51.  §  Vol.  n.  1.  p.  365  et  seq.  ||  Page  373. 


16  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OP  MOSES. 

Lower  Egypt  and  the  wine  of  Upper  Egypt.*  Wilkin- 
sonf  gives  the  engraving  and  description  of  an  Egyptian 
vineyard,  and  the  different  kinds  of  labor  bestowed  on  it.  In 
a  paintingi  from  Thebes,  boys  are  seen  frightening  away 
the  birds  from  the  grape  clusters.  In  one  from  Beni  Hassan, 
the  kids  appear  which  are  allowed  to  browse  upon  the  vines 
after  the  vintage.  The  substance  of  what  is  communicated 
by  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  and  Wilkinson,  with  the  necessary  plates, 
can  be  found  in  T  a  y  1  o  r.§ 

The  assertion  of  Herodotus,  that  there  is  in  Egypt  no 
vine,  must  be  considered  as  an  entire  mistake.  The  attempt 
made  first  by  Dupuy||  and  L  archer,^  finally  also  by 
Bahr,  to  rescue  his  authority,  without  disparaging  the  wit- 
nesses who  attest  the  existence  of  the  cultivation  of  the  vine 
in  ancient  Egypt,  by  saying  that  Herodotus  speaks  only 
of  a  part  of  Egypt,  the  cultivated  part,  has  been  already  set 
aside  as  inadmissible  byRosellini.  ''Certainly,"  says 
he,**  "Herodotus  speaks  only  of  fertile  Egypt,  but  only 
there  could  the  vine  be  cultivated,  and  most  certainly  was 
cultivated.     The  remainder  was  either  desert  or  swamp."tt 

The  many  representations  on  the  monuments  of  wine- 
offerings,  which  the  kings  present  to  the  gods,  show  how 
little  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  the  assertion  of  P 1  u  t  a  r  c  h, 
that  before  the  time  of  Psamaticus  wine  was  neither  offered 

*  Page  377.  t  Vol.  11.  p.  143  et  seq. 

{  Page  149.  §  Page  48  et  seq. 

II  In  the  Mem.  de  1'  Acad.  d.  Inscr.  t.  31.  Hist.  p.  20. 

H  Upon  Herod.  2.  p.  333.  **  Page  374. 

It  Even  Bahr  says,  in  remarking  upon  the  words,  6l  fiev  ttsqI  Ti}v 
OTreQO/uivtjV  u^TyvTtTov  otx^ovot,  in  the  beginning  of  C.  77.  B.  II: 
"  Est  enim  Aegyptus  ad  Nili  utramque  ripam  sita  per  aliquot  dierum 
itinera  fcrtilis  frugibusque  colendis  apta,  quam  rustici  incolae  habi- 
tant; quae  sequuntur  regiones  pastorum  potius  sunt  atque  nomadum 
neque  frugum  capaces."     See  also  Heeren,  S.  146  ff. 


CULTIVATION  OF  THE  VINE,  17 

nor  made  use  of  as  drink.*  This  is  one  of  those  numerous 
fabrications,  by  which  the  Egyptians  attempt  to  give  aston- 
ished foreigners  an  idea  of  the  nobility  and  piety  of  their 
ancestors.  Even  Herodotus  does  not  think  of  anything 
at  all  like  this.  If  wine  had  been  considered  as  the  blood  of 
Typhon,  how  could  it  be  explained,  that  even  in  his  time, 
the  priests  received  a  regular  allowance  of  wine.t  Their 
practice  would  surely  have  corresponded  to  their  theology,  if 
indeed  the  kings  and  the  people  had  been  led  astray  by  Gre- 
cian customs. 

When  V.  Bo  hi  en  asserts,  that  the  vine  could  not  have 
found  entrance  into  Egypt,  except  at  some  hw  points,  on 
account  of  the  inundation,  we  can  against  this  refer  to  M  i- 
chaud  among  others,  who  says,  vines  flourish  in  Egypt  in 
the  water  like  water-plants.f  And  when  J.  D.  M  i  c  h  a  e  1  i  s 
alleges,  that  the  Delta  is  in  August  and  September,  the 
months  of  the  wine-harvest,  entirely  overflowed,  we,  in  op- 
position to  him,  refer  to  H  a  r  t  m  a  n  n,§  according  to  whom 
the  grape-gathering  takes  place  in  part  even  in  July,  and  is 
finished  in  August,  while  the  inundation,  as  a  general  thing, 
does  not  begin  until  the  end  of  August,  and  never  before  the 
middle  of  that  month.|[ 

*  Comp.  Ros.  S.  376.  Wilk.  II.  p.  164  et  seq.  According  to  Wil- 
kinson, p.  168,  men  are  seen  in  the  sculptures  who,  unable  to  walk 
from  excess  in  drinking,  are  carried  home  from  a  feast  by  servants. 
For  proof,  that  the  prohibition  of  wine  and  other  intoxicating  drinks 
to  the  priests  who  were  to  perform  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  in 
Lev.  10,  V.  8  seq.,  was  not  inappropriate  among  a  people  who  had 
come  from  Egypt,  where  both  wine  and  other  intoxicating  drinks 
were  much  loved,  see  Wilk.  Vol.  III.  p.  172  seq. 

t  Comp.  2.  37. 

+  T.  7,  der  Correspondenz  aus  dem  Orient,  p.  12.  Compare  also 
concerning  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  in  the  Delta,  Hartmann,  Aegyp- 
ten,  S.  187. 

§  See  passage  above  referred  to.  ||  Page  214 — 15. 

IT  Page  118. 

2* 


18  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OP  MOSES. 

We  add  here,  in  conclusion,  an  explanation  from  Egyptian 
antiquity,  of  some  objections,  which,  although  they  have  not 
yet  been,  easily  might  be  made  to  the  credibility  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch. 


The  Origin  of  Civilization  in  Egypt. 

It  has  often  been  confidently  affirmed  in  modern  times, 
that  colonization  and  civilization  descended  from  Ethiopia 
down  the  Nile  to  Egypt.  From  this  view  one  can  hardly 
avoid  a  certain  suspicion  of  the  notices  respecting  Egypt  in 
the  Pentateuch.  Already,  in  Abraham's  time,  we  find  the 
seat,  not  of  a,  but  of  the  flourishing  Egyptian  kingdom  in 
Lower  Egypt,  whither  colonization  and  civilization  could 
scarcely,  at  that  time,  have  been  carried.  Zoan  or  Tanis 
in  the  Delta  appears  in  Numbers  13:  23,  as  one  of  the  oldest 
cities  in  Egypt. 

But  this  position  is  entirely  hypothetical,  and  its  inadmis- 
sibility, as  is  now  more  and  more  acknowledged,  appears, 
even  when  we  for  the  present  leave  the  Pentateuch,  out  of 
the  account.  From  antiquity  arises  a  distinguished  witness, 
Herodotus,  who*  derives  the  civilization  of  Ethiopia  from 
the  deserters  from  the  army  of  Psamaticus.  Among  the 
moderns,  J  o  m  a  r  dt  has  most  thoroughly  confuted  this  po- 
sition. "  Nubia,"  he  remarks,  "  consists  almost  entirely  of 
barren  rocks.  Such  a  land,  where  the  most  urgent  wants  of 
man  can  only  be  supplied  with  the  utmost  exertion,  is  not 
the  cradle  of  the  fine  arts.  Accordingly  the  majority  of 
French  travellers  have  not  embraced  the  opinion,  that  the  arts 
have  descended  further  and  further  from  the  mountains  of 
Ethiopia."  "  So  soon  as  I  received  information  of  the  true 
character  of  the  antiquities  of  Nubia,  when  I  in  the  pictures 

*  2.  30. 

t  In  the  Doscript.  of  the  Scholars  who  accompanied  the  French 
Expedition  into  Egypt,  t.  9.  p.  163  et  seq. 


THE  USE  OF  IRON.  l^f 

and  sculptures  saw  the  same  objects  which  are  represented 
on  the  monuments  of  Thebes,  it  was  clear  to  me,  that  most 
of  the  monuments  of  Nubia  are  far  later  than  those  of  Thebes, 
and  by  no  means  served  as  models  for  them.  The  climate  is 
different  in  the  two  lands,  the  productions  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  are  not  the  same,  the  most  distinguished  plants 
which  the  Egyptian  artists  have  so  often  represented, — the 
lotus,  the  papyrus,  the  vine,  etc.,  are  not  found  in  this  high 
region,  and  the  reed  and  the  date  tree  but  seldom.  The 
arts,  already  cultivated  and  perfected,  could  have  been 
brought  to  these  shores,  but  their  inhabitants  could  not  have 
transplanted  the  arts,  for  which  their  country  offered  no 
natural  type,  to  the  shores  of  the  Lower  Nile."  Wilkin- 
son* represents  the  hypothesis  of  the  origin  of  culture 
in  Ethiopia  as  entirely  exploded  by  modern  investigations. 
The  specimens  of  art  which  remain  in  Ethiopia  are  not 
merely  inferior  in  conception  to  those  of  Egypt,  but  bear  far 
less  the  stamp  of  originality.  He  thinks  it  probable,  though 
not  demonstrable,  that  civilization  was  carried  from  Thebes 
to  Lower  Egypt.  He  declines,  however,  the  task  of  defend- 
ing this  hypothesis  with  those  who  oppose  him.  It  seems 
almost  as  if  this  asserted  probability  were  founded  entirely 
upon  a  misconception,  namely,  upon  the  circumstance  that 
the  monuments  of  Upper  Egypt,  in  consequence  of  their  situ- 
ation, are  in  a  far  better  state  of  preservation  than  those  of 
Lower  Egypt,  where  even  the  traces  of  them  are  for  the  most 
part  obliterated.  We  are  much  too  readily  disposed  to  con- 
sider that  a  thing,  which  now  appears  noble  in  the  ruins,  was 
originally  the  most  noble  and  ancient. 


The  Use  of  Iron  in  Egypt. 

One  further  difficulty :   according  to  Gen.  4:  22,  Tubal- 
cain  was  the  father  of  all  forgers  of  brass  and  iron.     Against 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  4. 


20  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  working  of  iron  so  early,  it  might  be  argued,  that  among 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  all  implements  in  common  use,  wea- 
pons, household-furniture,  instruments,  were  made  of  cop- 
per hardened  by  an  alloy  of  tin.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
Wilkinson*  remarks:  *'The  constant  employment  of 
bronze  arms  and  implements  is  not  a  sufficient  argument 
against  their  knowledge  of  iron,  since  we  find  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  made  the  same  things  of  bronze  long  after  the 
period  when  iron  was  universally  known."  From  the  great 
proficiency  in  metallurgy  in  Egypt,  it  cannot  be  supposed, 
that  the  art  of  working  iron  was  unknown.  The  extensive 
use  of  brass  (it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  also  in  our  pas- 
sage brass  occupies  the  first  place)  must  be  first  on  account 
of  the  greater  ease  of  procuring  and  working  it.  The  same 
author!  says,  that  it  is  scarcely  supposable,  that  without  tem- 
pered iron  the  hieroglyphics  could  have  been  cut  deep  into 
hard  granite  and  basaltic  rocks.  But  there  is  a  yet  stronger 
argument  for  the  use  of  iron  in  ancient  Egypt  from  Hero- 
do  t  u  s,f  who,  after  relating  how  great  an  expense  the  sup- 
port of  the  laborers  on  the  Pyramids  of  Cheops  occasioned, 
remarks  :  "  How  immense,  therefore,  must  have  been  the  sum 
which  was  expended  on  the  iron  with  which  they  worked," 
unquestionably  implying  that  the  Egyptians,  even  in  this  ear- 
ly age,  made  use  of  iron  as  they  did  in  his  own  time.  Upon 
the  sculptures  in  Thebes,  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n§  also  found  battle- 
axes,  which,  if  we  may  judge  from  their  color,  were  of  steel. 
By  these  remarks,  the  other  passages] |  of  the  Pentateuch, 

*  Vol.  111.  245.     Compare  also  246.  t  Vol.  I.  p.  60. 

i  Book  2.  124. 

§  Vol.  I.  p.  324.  Compare,  concerning  other  probable  indications 
of  the  existence  of  iron  on  the  sculptures  of  the  early  Pharaohs,  Vol. 
111.  p.  247  (241 — 5,5) ;  and  concerning  the  use  of  iron  generally  in 
ancient  Egypt,  Rosellini,  II.  2.  p.  301  seq. 

II  Num.  35:  16.     Deut.  3:  11.  4:  10.  27:  5. 


EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES.  21 

in  which  iron  implements  are  mentioned,  are  vindicated  at 
the  same  time  with  those  which  have  been  noticed. 

The  problem  of  our  negative  part  is  solved.*  We  have, 
we  hope,  conclusively  proved,  that  Egyptian  antiquity  fur- 
nishes no  evidence  against  the  Books  of  Moses.  By  this, 
much  is  already  gained.  Were  the  Pentateuch  really,  what 
according  to  the  views  of  modern  criticism  it  must  be,  such 
evidence  would  necessarily  appear  against  it,  since  the  events 
narrated,  so  many  of  them,  transpired  on  Egyptian  ground. 
The  negative  part,  therefore,  acquires  no  inconsiderable  po- 
sitive importance.  It  now  belongs  to  us,  in  the  positive  part, 
to  inquire  what  evidence  Egyptian  antiquity  furnishes  in 
favor  of  the  Books  of  Moses. 

*  We  have  reserved  the  consideration  of  some  objections  which 
might  seem  appropriate  here,  for  the  positive  portion  of  our  work, 
because,  in  the  cases  referred  to,  the  positive  element  predominated 
over  the  negative. 


POSITIVE    PART 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPH.— Gen.  Chaps.  XXXVH— XL. 

Joseph  carried  to  Egypt  and  sold  to  Potiphar. 

According  to  chap,  xxxvii,  Joseph  is  sold  by  his  brothers 
to  an  Arabian  caravan  who  are  going  to  Egypt  with  mer- 
chandize, and  they  sell  him  in  Egypt.  An  argument  for  the 
early  commencement  of  trade  by  caravans  with  Egypt  is  fur- 
nished by  the  fact,  that  the  king  Amun-m-gori  II.,  of  the 
16th  dynasty,  erected  a  station  in  the  Wady  Jasoos,  to  com- 
mand the  wells  which  furnish  water  for  those  passing  through 
the  desert.*  The  same  author  shows  that  slaves  were  pro- 
cured by  the  Egyptians,  not  only  in  war,  but  also  by  pur- 
chase.! 

The  master  of  Joseph,  chap.  37:  36,  is  designated  as  Poti- 
phar, the  eunuch  of  Pharaoh,  chief  of  the  body-guard  (lite- 
rally, the  executioners).  A  eunuch  in  the  literal  sense  can- 
not be  meant.  The  term  in  this  place  is  equivalent  to 
court-officer.  But  the  transferred  signification  rests  upon 
the  employments  in  which  real  eunuchs  engaged,|  and  thus 
it  follows  from  this  designation  of  Potiphar,  that  there  were, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  author,  eunuchs,  even  in  Egypt.#  Now 
V.  Bohlen  asserts,  that  it  cannot  be  proved,  that  there 

*  Wilkinson,  Vol.  I.  pp.  45  and  46.  %  Vol.  I.  pp.  403  and  4. 

t  Herod.  8.  105  :  naQO.  xoiai  ^aq^aqoioi  xifxuoibQoi  elot  oi  evvovxot, 
TTiariog  eivexa  rt^g  Tcdoyjg,  tOyv  avoqywjv. 


24  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

were  eunuchs  in  Egypt,  and  that  the  author  is  justly  sus- 
pected of  transferring  that,  which  belonged  to  the  Hebrew 
court,  to  Egypt.  But  this  suspicion  is  removed  by  what 
R  o  s  e  1  li  n  i*  says  of  the  existence  of  eunuchs  in  Egypt. 
Men  are  sometimes  represented,  he  remarks,  on  the  Egyptian 
monuments  with  evident  marks  of  fulness,  especially  of  the 
chest  and  stomach,  which  is  unusual  among  the  Egyptians 
in  this  hot  climate.  Their  complexion  is  almost  a  medium 
between  the  brown  and  yellow  by  which  men  and  women 
are  generally  distinguished  from  one  another.  These  marks 
are  characteristic  of  eunuchs.  The  employments  of  these 
men  are  also  in  favor  of  this  opinion.  They  are  repeatedly 
represented  as  attendants  of  the  women,  then  as  musicians, 
and  finally  as  servants,  who  are  entrusted  with  the  important^ 
duties  of  household  management.  It  is  evident  from  H  e  r  o- 
d  ot  ust,  that  the  kings  of  Egypt  had  a  guard  who  in  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  income  of  the  soldier,  also  received  a  se- 
parate salary.  In  the  paintings  of  marches  and  battles  on 
the  monuments,  these  royal  guards  are  commonly  seen  to  be 
employed  in  protecting  the  person  of  the  king,  and  are  dis- 
tinguished by  a  peculiar  dress  and  weapons.^  During  the 
reign  of  the  Ptolemies,  who  in  general  adhered  to  the  usages 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the  office  of  the  commander  of  the 
body-guard§  was  a  very  important  one.  They  possessed  the 
confidence  of  the  king,  and  were  often  employed  in  the  most 
important  business  transactions. ||  Finally,  the  superintend- 
ence of  executions  belonged  to  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
military  cast.1] 

Joseph's  Exaltation. 

AcCT)rding  to  chap.  39:  4  and  5,  Potiphar  placed  Joseph 
over  his  house  and  over  all   his  substance,  and  the  Lord 

*  Vol.  11.3.  p.  132  seq.  t  2.  168. 

X  Ros.  II.  3.  p.  201.  §  aQXiGOJjuttTOfpv^a^. 

II  Comp.  Roscllini,  p.  202.  li  p.  273. 


THE  OFFICE  OF  STEWARD  IN  EGYPT.  25 

blessed  him,  for  the  sake  of  Joseph,  in  all  which  he  had  in 
the  house  and  in  the  field.  Joseph  had  also,  after  his  exalta- 
tion, a  man  who  was  over  his  house.*  A  peculiar  and 
characteristic  Egyptian  trait!  "Among  the  objects  of  til- 
lage and  husbandry,"  says  Rosellini,  "which  are  por- 
trayed in  the  Egyptian  tombs,  we  often  see  a  steward,  who 
takes  account  and  makes  a  registry  of  the  harvest  before  it 
is  deposited  in  the  store-house."  "  In  a  tomb  at  Kum  el 
Ahmar,  the  office  of  a  steward  with  all  its  apparatus  is  repre- 
sented ;  two  scribes  appear  with  all  their  preparations  for 
writing,  and  there  are  three  rows  of  volumes,  the  account 
and  household  books  of  the  steward,"  etc.f  The  same  au- 
thor remarks  in  reference  to  a  painting  in  a  tomb  at  Beni 
Hassan:  "In  this  scene,  as  also  in  many  others  which  ex- 
hibit the  internal  economy  of  a  house,  a  man  carrying  imple- 
ments for  writing, — the  pen  over  his  ear,  the  tablet  or  paper 
in  his  hand,  and  the  writing  table  under  his  arm, — either  fol- 
lows or  goes  before  the  servants."^  According  to  the  in- 
scription, this  is  the  overseer  of  the  slaves  or  the  steward. 
Compare  also  the  representation  in  Wilkinson  of  art 
Egyptian  steward  in  his  employment,  "  overlooking  the  tillage 
ofthelands."§ 


Josephs  Temptation  and  the  Morals  of  the  Egyptians. 

With  impudent  shamelessness  Potiphar's  wife  seeks  to  se- 
duce Joseph. II  How  great  the  corruption  of  manners  with 
reference  to  the  marriage  relation  was  among  the  Egyptians, 
appears  from  Herodotu  s,^  whose  account  L  a  r  c  h  e  r  ha& 
compared  with  the  one  under  consideration.  The  wife  of 
one  of  the  oldest  kings  was  untrue  to  him.  It  was  a  long 
time  before  a  woman  could  be  found  who  was  faithful  to  her 

*  Gen.  43:  16,  19.  44:  1.  t  II.  1.  p.  329, 

X  II.  p.  403,  4.  §  II.  p.  136. 

II  Chap,  xxxix.  TF  2.  111. 
3 


4» 
26  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

husband.  And  when  one  was,  at  last,  found,  the  king  took 
her  without  hesitation  for  himself  From  such  a  state  of 
morals,  the  Biblical  narrative  can  easily  be  conceived  to  be 
natural.  The  evidence  of  the  monuments  is  also  not  very 
favorable  to  the  Egyptian  women.  Thus,  they  are  repre- 
sented, as  addicted  to  excess  in  drinking  wine,  as  even  be- 
coming so  much  intoxicated  as  to  be  unable  to  stand  or  walk 
alone,  or  "  to  carry  their  liquor  discreetly."* 

Potiphar's  wife  avails  herself  of  the  opportunity  when  her 
husband  and  the  rest  of  the  men  of  the  house  were  gone  out, 
and  Joseph  had  come  in  to  perform  some  duty.t  It  has  lately 
been  affirmed,  that  an  error  against  Egyptian  customs  is  here 
detected.  V.  Bo  hi  en  says:  "  Since  eunuchs  are  supposed 
to  exist,  Joseph  could  not  so  much  as  come  into  the  presence 
of  the  women,  still  less  into  the  harem ;"  and  T  u  c  h  re- 
marks :  '*  The  narrator  abandons  the  representation  of  a 
distinguished  Egyptian,  in  whose  house  the  women  live 
separately,  and  descends  to  a  common  domestic  establish- 
ment," etc.  The  error,  however,  lies  here,  not  on  the 
side  of  the  author,  but  on  that  of  his  critics.  They  are 
guilty  of  inadvertently  transferring  that  which  universally 
prevails  in  the  East  to  Egypt,  which  the  author  avoids,  and 
thereby  exhibits  his  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. According  to  the  monuments,  the  women  in  Egypt 
lived  under  far  less  restraint,  than  in  the  East,  or  even  in 
Greece. \ 

The  delineations  of  Egyptian  social  intercourse  are  espe- 
cially appropriate  here.  T  a  y  1  o  r,§  collecting  in  few  words 
the  results  as  they  are,  without  reference  to  our  passage, 
says:  "In  some  entertainments,  we  find  the  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen of  a  party  in  different  rooms;  but  in  others,  we  find 
them  in  the  same  apartment,  mingling  together  with  all  the 
social  freedom  of  modern  Europeans.     The  children  were 

*  Compare  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II.  p.  167.  t   Conip.  v.  11. 

X  See  Uie  proof  in  Wilk.  Vol.  II.  p.  389.  §  p.  171. 


MANNER  OF  BEARING  BURDENS.  27 

allowed  the  same  liberty  as  the  women;  instead  of  being 
shut  up  in  the  harem,  as  is  now  usual  in  the  East,  they  were 
introduced  into  company,  and  were  permitted  to  sit  by  the 
mother  or  on  the  father's  knee." 


The  Dream  of  the  Chief  Baker  of  Pharaoh, 

According  to  chap.  40:  16,  the  chief  baker,  in  his  dream, 
carries  three  wicker  baskets  with  various  choice  baker's 
commodities  on  his  head.  Similar  woven  baskets,  flat  (which 
the  circumstance  that  the  three  are  placed  one  upon  another 
here  implies)  and  open,  for  carrying  grapes  and  other  fruits, 
are  found  represented  on  the  monuments.*  The  art  of  bak- 
ing was  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  among  the 
Egyptians.  Rosellini  says,  after  describing  the  kitchen 
scenes  upon  the  tomb  of  Remeses  IV.  at  Biban  el  Moluk: 
"  From  all  these  representations,  it  is  clear  that  the  Egyptians 
were  accustomed  to  prepare  many  kinds  of  pastry  for  the  ta- 
ble, as  we  see  the  very  same  kinds  spread  out  upon  the  altars 
and  tables  which  are  represented  in  the  tombs.  They  made 
even  bread  in  many  and  various  forms.  These  articles  are 
found  in  the  tombs  kneaded  from  barley  or  wheat,  in  the 
form  of  a  star,  a  triangle,  a  disk,  and  other  such  like  things. "f 
But  the  custom  o{  carrying  on  the  head  is  most  peculiar  and 
characteristic  of  Egypt,  and  it  is  so  much  the  more  to  be  re- 
marked, as  it  is  mentioned  incidentally,  and  the  author  does 
not  characterize  it  as  a  custom  peculiar  to  the  Egyptians. 
Herodotusf  mentions  the  habit  of  bearing  burdens  on  the 
head  by  the  men,  as  one  by  which  the  Egyptians  are  distin- 
tinguished  from  all  other  people :  **  Men  bear  burdens  on 
their  heads,  and  women  on  their  shoulders."     Examples  of 

*  Wilk.  II.  151—2. 

t  Vol.  II.  2.  p.  464.     Compare  the  representation  of  these  differ- 
ent kinds  of  pastry,  etc.,  in  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II.  p.  385. 
X  2.  35. 


28  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

this  custom  are  frequently  found  upon  the  monuments.*  To 
be  sure,  the  monuments  also  show,  what  is  evident  without 
argument,  that  tlie  custom  was  not  universal. t 


Pharaolis  Dream  and  the  Magicians  of  Egypt. 

In  the  account  of  Pharaoh's  dream,  chap.  41  :  1  seq., 
we  are  first  struck  with  the  use  of  the  word  ^^^^  {Achoo), 
Nile-grass, — an  Egyptian  word  for  an  Egyptian  thing.  In 
the  next  place,  the  seven  poor  and  the  seven  fat  kine  attract 
our  attention.  The  symbol  of  the  cow  is  very  peculiar  and 
exclusively  Egyptian.  Upon  the  signification  of  this  symbol 
we  have  two  important  passages,  one  from  P 1  u  t  a  r  c  h  :| 
**They  consider  the  cow  as  the  image  of  Isis  and  the  earth," 
i.  e.  the  symbol  of  them.§  The  other  is  found  in  CI  e- 
m  e  n  s  :||  "  The  cow  is  the  symbol  of  the  earth  itself  and  its 
cultivation,  and  of  food."  Now,  therefore,  since  the  cow  is 
the  symbol  of  fruitfulness,  it  appears  entirely  natural,  that 
the  difference  of  the  year  in  respect  to  fruitfulness  was  repre- 
sented by  the  different  condition  of  the  kine — that  unfruitful 
years  were  denoted  by  lean  kine.  It  is  scarcely  conceivable 
that  a  foreign  inventor  should  have  confined  himself  so  closely 
to  the  peculiar  Egyptian  symbols.  The  circumstance  that 
the  kine  come  up  out  of  the  Nile,  the  fat  and  also  the  lean, 
has  reference  to  the  fact  that  Egypt  owes  all  its  fertility  to 
this  stream,  and  that  famine  succeeds  as  soon  as  it  fails. 

*  Compare  drawings  in  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II.  p.  151 — 2  and  Vol.  III. 
p.  385,  where  a  man  is  carrying  bread  or  cakes  to  the  oven  upon  a  long 
board. 

t  Costaz  in  the  Dcscr.  t.  G.  p.  138.  Wilk.  as  above.  Rosellini, 
II.  p.  453. 

X  In  liJlhr  upon  llerod.  2.  41. 

\  liovv  y(i()  "JaiSoe  eixova  y.al  yi^v  voftCCovai,  upon  which  Bilhr : 
Manet  vacca  Isidis  signum  procreatricisque  naturae  symbolum. 

II  Strom.  B.  V.  p.  671.  Potter. 


PRIESTS,  THE  MAGICIANS  IN  EGYPT.  29 

According  to  chap.  41:  8,  Pharaoh  calls  "  all  the  magicians 
of  Egypt  and  all  the  wise  men  thereof,"  that  they  may  inter- 
pret his  dream,  by  which  he  is  troubled.  These  same  magi- 
cians appear  also  in  Ex.  7:  11:  "Then  Pharaoh  called 
the  wise  men  and  the  sorcerers ;  and  they  also,  the  magicians 
of  Egypt,  did  in  like  manner  by  their  enchantments ;"  and  they 
are  also  represented  in  Ex.  8:  3,  14,  15 — (7,  18,  19.)  9:  11, 
as  the  wise  men  of  the  nation,  the  possessors  of  secret 
arts. 

Now  we  find  in  Egyptian  antiquity,  an  order  of  persons, 
to  whom  this  is  entirely  appropriate,  which  is  here  ascribed 
to  the  magicians.  The  priests  had  a  double  office,  the  prac- 
tical worship  of  the  gods,  and  the  pursuit  of  that  which  in 
Egypt  was  accounted  as  wisdom.  The  first  belonged  to  the 
so-called  prophets,  the  second  to  the  holy  scribes,  /egoygnfi' 
(xaxuq.  These  last  were  the  learned  men  of  the  nation  ;  as  in 
the  Pentateuch,  they  are  called  wise  men,  so  the  classical 
writers  named  them  sages*  These  men  were  applied  to  for 
explanation  and  aid  in  all  things  which  lay  beyond  the  circle 
of  common  knowledge  and  action.  Thus,  in  severe  cases  of 
sickness,  for  example,  along  with  the  physician  a  holy  scribe 
was  called,  who  from  a  book  and  astrological  signs  deter- 
mined whether  recovery  was  possible.!  The  interpretation 
of  dreams,  and  also  divination  belonged  to  the  order  of  the 
holy  scribes.j:  In  times  of  pestilence,  they  applied  them- 
selves to  magic  arts  to  avert  the  disease.^  A  passage  in 
Lucianll  furnishes  a  peculiarly  interesting  parallel  to  the 
accounts  of  the  Pentateuch  concerning  the  practice  of  magic 
arts :  "  There  was  with  us  in  the  vessel,  a  man  of  Memphis, 
one  of  the  holy  scribes,  wonderful  in  wisdom  and  skilled  in 
all  sorts  of  Egyptian  knowledge.     It  was  said  of  him,  that  he 

*  Compare  Jablonski,  Panth.  Proll.  p.  31  seq.  Drumann,  Inschrift 
von  Rosetta,  S.  122,  fF. 

t  Drumann,  S.  129.  t  S-  130. 

§  S.  130.  11  In  Jablonski,  p.  95. 

3* 


30  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

had  lived  twenty-three  years  in  subterranean  sanctuaries,  and 
that  he  had  been  there  instructed  in  magic  by  Isis."* 


The  Hair  and  Beard — lioiv  worn  in  Egypt. 

When  Joseph  is  called  before  Pharaoh  he  shaves  himself, 
chap.  41:  14.  Even  the  most  prejudiced,  as  for  example, 
V.  Boh  1  en,  must,  in  this  incidental  notice,  recognize  a 
purely  Egyptian  custom.  Even  H  erodotu  st  mentions  it 
among  the  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  the  Egyptians,  that 
they  commonly  were  shaved,  but  in  mourning  they  allowed 
the  beard  to  grow.|  The  sculptures  also  agree  with  this  re- 
presentation. "  So  particular,"  says  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,§  "  were 
they  on  this  point,  that  to  have  neglected  it  was  a  subject  of- 
reproach  and  ridicule;  and  whenever  they  intended  to  con- 
vey the  idea  of  a  man  of  low  condition,  or  a  slovenly  person, 
the  artists  represented  him  with  a  beard."  *'  Although  for- 
eigners," says  the  same  author, ||  '*  who  were  brought  to 
Egypt  as  slaves  had  beards  on  their  arrival  in  the  country, 
we  find  that  as  soon  as  they  were  employed  in  the  service  of 
this  civilized  people,  they  were  obliged  to  conform  to  the 
cleanly  habits  of  their  masters;  their  beards  and  head  were 
shaved;  and  they  adopted  a  close  cap."  According  to  Ro- 
eel  1  i  n  ill  the  priests  shaved  not  the  beard  only,  but  also  the 
head;  and  others,  if  they  did  not  shave  it  with  a  razor,  were 
accustomed  to  wear  the  hair  very  short ;  the  abundant  and 
long  hair  which  often  covers  the  head  of  the  tigures  on  the 
monuments  was  probably  false  like  our  wigs.     The  same 

*  "Ervybv  rifiiv  avfinXiojv  MeftqiloTjg  avyjQ,  zojv  isqwv  yQnfiuaxiojv^ 
&avfidoiog  ti,v  oo(fi'av  yal  Tyv  iraiSalav  iraaav  iiSojg  t?}^  u4iyi'nTiov 
tXtyaro  Se  T(tia  xal  tXnooiv  I'tt]  fv  roig  uSvroig  viroyaioig  wx7/x^V«t, 
fxaytvtLV  naiStvufAtvog  tno  T^g'IaiSog- 

t  Chap.  2.  'Sii.  t  See  Balir  upon  this  passage,  S.  5.58. 

§  Vol.  HI.  p.  357.  II  III.  p.  a58. 

IT  Vol.  I.  2.  p.  486  seq. 


BYSSUS NECKLACES,  ETC.  31 

author  remarks,  that  this  was  considered,  by  the  neighboring 
nations,  and  especially  by  the  Asiatics,  as  a  peculiar  and 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  Egyptians.* 


Dress  and  Ornaments  of  the  Egyptians, 

According  to  chap.  41:  42,  Pharaoh  put  upon  Joseph  at 
the  time  of  his  advancement,  his  signet-ring,  and  arrayed 
him  in  garments  of  byssus,  and  put  the  gold  chain  (the  arti- 
cle shows  that  it  was  done  in  reference  to  a  custom  common 
in  such  a  case)  about  his  neck.  As  the  gift  of  the  seal-ring 
is  not  peculiar  to  Egypt,  but  common  in  the  East,  we  do  not 
delay  upon  it.  But  the  garments  of  byssus  belong  necessa- 
rily to  the  naturalizing  of  Joseph.  Garments  of  cloth  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  linen  and  cotton,  were  considered 
by  the  Egyptians  as  pure  and  holy,  and  were  in  high  es- 
timation among  them ;  the  priests  wore  these  only,  accord- 
ing to  Herodotus,  2.  37,  where  the  term  linen  in  opposi- 
tion to  woollen  includes  also  cotton. t  And  even  among  the 
rest  of  the  Egyptians,  these  were  the  most  valued  garments. 
Herodotus  says:  "They  wear  woollen  garments  which 
are  ever  newly  washed, "|  and  the  woollen  garments  which 
they  commonly  wore  for  outer  garments  were  thrown  off  as 
soon  as  they  entered  the  temple.§  In  reference  to  the  third 
mark  of  distinction,  the  putting  on  of  the  necklace,  the  monu- 
ments furnish  abundant  explanation.  In  the  tombs  of  Beni 
Hassan, II  many  slaves  are  represented,  each  of  whom  has  in 
in  his  hand  something  which  belonors  to  the  dress  or  orna- 
ments  of  his  master.  The  first  carries  one  of  the  necklaces 
with  which  the  neck  and  breast  of  persons  of  high  rank  are 
generally  adv)rned.     Over  it  stands :  Necklace  of  Gold.     At 

*  Vol.  II.  2.  p   395.  t  Heeren,  p.  133. 

t  Heiod.  2.  37. 

§  Herod   2.  81,  and  Heeren  in  the  passage  above  referred  to. 
II  Rosellini,  U.  2.  p.  4C4. 


32  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Beni  Hassan  there  is  also  a  similar  representation  in  another 
tomb  of  a  noble  Egyptian.*  By  the  form  of  the  necklace, 
it  is  remarked,!  the  distinction  of  individuals  in  regard  to 
rank  and  dignity  was  probably  denoted.  Men  of  the  com- 
mon order  seldom  wear  such  ornaments,  while  the  pictures 
of  the  kings  and  the  great  are  always  adorned  with  them.f 

The  remark  of  v.  Boh  1  en  upon  Gen.  41:42:  "It  is 
however  scarcely  necessary  to  mention  that  these  objects  of 
luxury,  especially  polished  stones,  belong  to  a  later  time," 
has  interest  only  as  it  shows  how  far  the  investigations  of  the 
Rationalists,  in  reference  to  the  Pentateuch,  fall  short  of  the 
present  advanced  state  of  knowledge  respecting  Egyptian 
antiquity.     It  is  now  far  too  late  for  such  remarks. 


The  Marriage  of  Joseph 

According  to  chap.  41:  45,  Pharaoh  gives  to  Joseph,  Ase- 
nath,  the  daughter  of  Potiphera  the  priest  of  On,  in  marriage. 
The  name  Potiphera,  Petephra,  he  who  belongs  to  the  sun, 
is  very  common  on  the  Egyptian  monuments. §  This  name 
is  especially  appropriate  for  the  priest  of  On  or  Heliopolis. 
Since  Pharaoh  evidently  intended  by  this  act  to  establish  the 
power  bestowed  on  Joseph  upon  a  firm  basis,  it  is  implied  in 
this  account :  first,  that  the  Egyptian  high-priests  occupied  a 
very  important  position,  and  secondly,  that  among  them  the 
high-priest  of  On  was  the  most  distinguished.  Both  these 
points  are  confirmed  by  history.  The  following  words  of 
Heerenll  will  show  how  conspicuous  the  station  of  the 
high-priests  in  general  was:  "The  priesthood  belonging  to 
each  temple  were  again  organized  among  themselves  with  the 

*  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  412.  t  Ros.  II.  2.  420. 

+  See  concerning  the  necklaces  of  the  Egyptians,  which  in  like 
manner  also  pertained  to  the  costume  of  the  gods,  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II. 
p.  215  and  Vol.  III.  p.  375—6  with  the  plate,  401)  M. 

§  Rosellini,  I.  l.p.  117.  ||  S.  128. 


PRIESTS  OF  ON.  33 

greatest  exactness.  They  had  a  high-priest,  whose  office 
was  also  hereditary.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  mention, 
that  the  stations  of  the  high-priests  in  the  principal  cities  in 
Egypt  were  first  and  highest.  They  were  in  a  manner  he- 
reditary princes,  who  stood  by  the  side  of  the  kings,  and  en- 
joyed almost  the  same  prerogatives.  Their  Egyptian  title, 
Piromis,  was,  according  to  the  explanation  of  H  e  r  o  d  o  t  u  s,* 
equivalent  to  the  noble  and  good  {xaXog  vMya^og) ;  which 
however  does  not  refer  perhaps  to  moral  character,  but  to  no- 
bility of  descent.  Their  statues  were  placed  in  the  temples. 
When  they  are  intj;oduced  into  history,  they  appear  as  the  first 
persons  of  the  State."  The  passage  of  B  a  h  rt  on  H  e  r  o  d  o- 
tus,  2.  3,  (where  the  priests  of  Heliopolis  are  described  as 
the  most  learned  among  all  the  Egyptians,)  shows,  that  among 
the  Egyptian  colleges  of  priests,  the  one  at  On  or  Heliopolis 
took  the  precedence  ;  consequently  the  high-priest  of  On  was 
the  most  distinguished.  The  great  antiquity  of  religious 
worship  at  On  is  also  attested  by  the  monuments.  Wil- 
kinson says:  "During  the  reign  of  Osirtasen  (whom  he 
makes  contemporary  with  Moses),  the  temple  of  Heliopolis 
was  either  founded  or  received  additions,  and  one  of  the 
obelisks  bearing  his  name  attests  the  skill  to  which  they  had 
attained  in  the  difficult  art  of  sculpturing  granite."| 

V.  Boh  1  e  n  has  attempted  to  make  out  a  contradiction  in 
this  account,  which  accords  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  with 
the  state  of  affairs  in  Egypt.  "  An  alliance  of  intolerant 
priests,"  says  he,  "  with  a  foreign  shepherd  is  entirely  op- 
posed to  the  character  of  the  Egyptians."§     But  the  connec- 

*  2.  143. 

t  Videntur  fuisse  tria  omnino  potiora  Aeg.  sacerdotum  collegia 
Memphiticum,  Thebaicum  et  Heliopolitanum,  in  quibus  Heliopolitae 
primum  locum  obtinuerunt,  si  quidem  vera  retulit  Strabo,  1. 17.  p.  1158 
D.,  solis  templum  una  cum  aedibus  sacerdotum  accurate  describens 
et  pluribus  de  illorum  doctrina  et  disciplina  disserens. 

t  Vol.  I.  p.  44.  §  p.  388. 


34  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tion  took  place  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  king, 
and  the  high-priest  of  On  the  less  dared  to  disobey  the  king, 
since  according  to  the  result  of  modern  investigations,  the 
Pharaohs  themselves  at  all  times  were  invested  with  the  high- 
est sacerdotal  dignity,*  and  consequently  possessed  not  an 
external  authority  merely,  over  the  priesthood.  The  tran- 
saction assumes  an  entirely  different  aspect  when  we  con- 
sider that  Joseph  did  not  by  any  means  marry  the  daughter 
of  the  high-priest  while  a  foreign  shepherd,  but  after  he  had 
been  fully  naturalized  by  the  king,  had  assumed  the  Egyptian 
dress,  taken  an  Egyptian  name,  etc.  Chap.  43:  32  shows, 
that  Joseph  had  formally  withdrawn  from  the  community  of 
his  own  people,  and  connected  himself  with  the  Egyptians. 
In  the  circumstance  that  this  is  represented  as  necessary,  as 
well  as  in  the  fact  that  Pharaoh  believed  it  important  to  give 
a  firm  basis  to  the  position  of  Joseph  by  a  union  with  the 
daughter  of  the  high-priest  of  On,  we  plainly  recognize  the 
traces  of  that  Egyptian  intolerance,  which  v.  Bohlen  fails 
to  perceive  here,  and  which  in  later  times  certainly  appears 
to  have  very  much  increased.  To  this  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion hereafter  to  advert. 


Joseph  collects  the  Produce  of  the  Seven  Years  of  Plenty. 

The  labors  of  Joseph  described  in  chap.  41:  48,  49,  in 
building  store-houses,  are  placed  vividly  before  us  in  the 
paintings  upon  the  monuments,  which  show  how  common 
the  store-house  was  in  ancient  Egypt.  In  a  tomb  at  Elethya 
a  man  is  represented  whose  business  it  evidently  was  to  take 
account  of  the  number  of  bushels  which  another  man  acting 
under  him  measures.  The  inscription  is  as  follows:  The 
writer  or  registrar  of  bushels,  Thutnofrc.  Then  follows  the 
transportation  of  the  grain.  From  the  measurer  others  take 
it  in  sacks  and  carry  it  to  the  store-houses.  In  the  tomb  of 
*  Leemans,  lettre  to  Mr.  Salvolini,  p.  14. 


FERTILITY  OF  EGYPT  AND  PALESTINE.  35 

Amenemhe  at  Beni  Hassan,  there  is  the  painting  of  a  great 
store-house,  before  whose  door  lies  a  large  heap  of  grain,  al- 
ready winnowed.  The  measurer  fills  a  bushel  in  order  to 
pour  it  into  the  uniform  sacks  of  those  who  carry  the  grain 
to  the  corn-magazine.  The  carriers  go  to  the  door  of  the 
store-house  and  lay  down  the  sacks  before  an  officer  who  stands 
ready  to  receive  the  corn.  This  is  the  overseer  of  the  store- 
house. Near  by  stands  the  bushel  with  which  it  is  measured 
and  the  registrar  who  takes  the  account.  At  the  side  of  the 
windows  there  are  characters  which  indicate  the  quantity  of 
the  mass  which  is  deposited  in  the  magazine.  Compare  with 
this  the  clause,*  "Until  he  left  numbering,"  in  verse  49. 
By  these  paintings,  light  is  also  thrown  upon  the  remark  in 
Ex.  1:  11:  **And  they  [the  Israelites]  built  for  Pharaoh 
treasure-cities,  "f 


Famine  in  Egypt  and  the  adjoining  Countries. 

The  declaration  that  famine  seized  at  the  same  time  upon 
Egypt  and  the  adjoining  country,  appears  at  first  view  suspi- 
cious, and  indeed  with  reference  to  this  also,  v.  B  o  h  1  e  n|  has 
very  confidently  charged  the  author  with  ignorance  of  the  na- 
tural condition  of  Egypt.  The  climate  and  tillage  of  Egypt  do 
not  stand  in  even  the  most  remote  connection  with  Palestine. 
In  Egypt  fertility  depends,  not  as  in  Palestine,  on  the  rains,  but 
entirely  on  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile.  But  on  a  closer  ex- 
amination the  suspicion  changes  into  its  direct  opposite. 
The  account  of  the  author  is  shown  to  be  entirely  in  ac- 


*  Rosellini,  IL  p.  324  seq, 

t  According  to  Champollion,  Briefe,  S.  228,  the  wide  halls  of  the 
great  palace  at  Thebes,  which  are  surrounded  by  large  colonnades,  all 
have  the  name  Manosk^  according  to  the  Egyptian  inscription,  i.e. 
the  place  of  the  harvest,  and  hence  is  derived,  the  place  where  corn 
is  measured.     Is  this  Manosk   probably  the  same  as  the   Hebrew, 

X  S.  421. 


36  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

cordance  with  natural  phenomena,  and  the  reproach  of  ''ig- 
norance respecting  the  country  of  Egypt"  comes  back  upon 
him  who  made  the  accusation.  Had  the  autlior  known 
Egypt  only  by  hearsay,  he  would  probably  have  written  in 
the  manner  that  v.  B  o  h  1  e  n  demands  of  him.  The  fruitful- 
ness  of  Egypt  depends,  it  is  true,  upon  the  inundations  of  the 
Nile.  But  these  are  occasioned,  as  even  Herodotus 
knew,  by  the  tropical  rains  which  fall  upon  the  Abyssinian 
mountains.*  These  rains  have  the  same  origin  with  those 
in  Palestine.  '*  It  is  now  decided,"  says  L  e  P  e  r  e,t  "  that 
the  Nile  owes  its  increase  to  the  violent  rains  which  proceed 
from  the  clouds  that  are  formed  upon  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  carried  so  far  by  the  winds,  which  annually  at 
nearly  the  same  time  blow  from  the  north.  There  are  no^ 
wanting  also  other  examples  of  years  of  dearth  which  were 
common  to  Egypt  with  the  adjoining  countries.  Thus  M  a- 
cr  i  z  i|  describes  a  famine  which  took  place  in  Egypt,  on  ac- 
count of  a  deficiency  in  the  increase  of  the  Nile  in  the  year 
of  the  Hejra  444,  which  at  the  same  time  extended  over 
Syria  and  even  to  Bagdad. 

But  v.  B  o  h  I  e  n  goes  so  far  as  even  to  impute  it  to  the 
author's  **  ignorance  of  the  natural  condition  of  Egypt,"  that 
he  represents  a  famine  as  coming  upon  this  country  at  all. 
The  overflowing  of  the  Nile  never  fails  to  take  place  alto- 
gether, or  for  several  years  in  succession,  and  the  Delta  is  fruit- 
ful even  without  it,  etc.  And  yet  there  is  scarcely  a  land  on 
the  earth  in  which  famine  has  raged,  so  often  and  so  terribly  as 
in  this  same  Egypt,  or  a  land  that  so  very  much  needs  the 
measures  which  Joseph  adopted  fur  the  preservation  of  the 
people.  Macrizi  could  write  a  whole  volume  on  the  fa- 
mines in  Egypt !  The  swelling  of  the  Nile  a  few  feet  above 
or  below  what  is  necessary  proves  alike  destructive.^     Parti- 

*  Rilter  Erdk.  1.  S.  835.  t  Dcscr.  t.  7.  p.  576. 

t  In  Quatromrrp,  Mem,  s.  I'  Eg.  t.  2.  p.  313. 
§   Le  Fere,  Dcscr.  18.  p.  573. 


INSTANCES  OF  FAMINE  IN  EGYPT.  37 

cular  instances  of  famine  which  history  has  handed  down  to 
us,  are  truly  horrible,  and  the  accounts  of  them  are  worthy  of 
notice  also,  inasmuch  as  they  present  the  services  of  Joseph  in 
behalf  of  Egypt  in  their  true  light.  A  b  d  o  1 1  a  t  i  p  h*  relates 
thus:  "In  the  year  569  (1199)  the  height  of  the  flood  was 
small  almost  without  example.  The  consequence  was  a  ter- 
rible famine  accompanied  by  indescribable  enormities.  Pa- 
rents consumed  their  children,  human  flesh  was  in  fact  a  very 
common  article  of  food ;  they  contrived  various  ways  of  pre- 
paring it.  They  spoke  of  it  and  heard  it  spoken  of  as  an 
indifferent  affair.  Man-catching  became  a  regular  business. 
The  greater  part  of  the  population  were  swept  away  by  death. 
In  the  following  year  also,  the  inundation  did  not  reach  the 
proper  height,  and  only  the  low  lands  were  overflowed.  Also 
much  of  that  which  was  inundated  could  not  be  sown  for 
want  of  laborers  and  seed,  much  was  destroyed  by  worms 
which  devoured  the  seed  corn ;  also  of  the  seed  which 
escaped  this  destruction,  a  great  part  produced  only  meagre 
shoots  which  perished."  Compare  with  this  account  the 
"thin  ears  and  blasted  with  the  east  wind,"  in  chap.  41:  6. 
M  a  c  r  i  z  i  f  has  given  an  account  of  the  famine  in  457,  which 
was  not  at  all  less  severe  than  that  of  596.  The  calif  himself 
nearly  perished  with  hunger. 


Josephj  his  Brethren  and  the  Egyptians  sit  at  an 
Entertainment. 

According  to  chap.  43:  32,  at  the  entertainment  to  which 
Joseph  invited  his  brethren,  they  sat  apart  from  the  Egyp- 
tians, while  Joseph  was  again  separated  from  both.  The  author 
shows  the  reason  of  this  in  the  remark  :  "  Because  the  Egyp- 
tians might  not  eat  bread  with  the  Hebrews,  for  that  is  aa 

*  Page  332  seq.  De  Sacy. 

t  In  Quatremere,  t.  2.  p.  401  seq. 

4 


38  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

abomination  to  the  Egyptians."  Herodotus*  also  re- 
marks, that  the  Egyptians  abstained  from  all  familiar  inter- 
course with  foreigners,  since  these  were  unclean  to  them, 
especially  because  they  slew  and  ate  the  animals  which  were 
sacred  among  the  Egyptians.  "  Therefore  (since  the  Egyp- 
tians honor  much  the  cow)  no  Egyptian  man  or  woman  will 
kiss  a  Greek  upon  the  mouth,  they  also  use  no  knife  or  fork 
or  kettle  of  a  Greek,  and  will  not  even  eat  any  flesh  of  a  clean 
beastf  if  it  has  been  cut  up  with  a  Grecian  knife."  The 
circumstance  that  Joseph  eats  separately  from  the  other 
Egyptians  is  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  great  difference 
of  rank,  and  the  spirit  of  caste  which  prevailed  among  the 
Egyptians. 

It  appears  from  chap.  43:  33,  that  the  brothers  of  Joseph 
sat  before  him  at  the  table,  while  according  to  patriarchal 
practice  they  were  accustomed  to  recline.|  It  appears  from 
the  sculptures,  that  the  Egyptians  also  were  in  the  habit  of 
sitting  at  table,  although  they  had  couches.§  Sofas  were 
used  for  sleeping.  In  a  painting  in  Rosel  1  i  n  i,||  "  each 
one  of  the  guests  sits  upon  a  stool,  which  in  accordance  with 
their  custom  took  the  place  of  the  couch." 

The  Practice  of  Divining  by  Cups. 

The  steward  of  Joseph,  chap.  44:  5,  in  order  to  magnify 
the  value  of  the  cup  which  his  brothers  were  said  to  have 
stolen,  designates  it  as  that  out  of  which  he  divineth.  J  a  m- 
blichus,  in  his  book  on  Egyptian  mysteries,  mentions  the 
practice  of  divining  by  cups.^     That  this  superstition,  as 

*  2.41. 

t  From  this  passage  it  may  be  inferred  with  how  much  propriety 
V.  Bohlen  has  asserted,  that  the  Egyptians  abstained  from  all  animal 
food. 

X  See  chap.  18:  4,  "  rest  yourselves."  §  Wilk.  2.  p.  201. 

11  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  439,  T.  79.  H  3  Part,  §  14.  p.  68. 


A  SCENE  FROM  BENI  HASSAN.  39 

well  as  many  others,  has  continued  even  to  modern  times,  is 
shown  by  a  remarkable  passage  in  Nor  den's  Travels.* 
When  the  author  with  his  companions  had  arrived  at  Derri, 
the  most  remote  extremity  of  Egypt,  or  rather  in  Nubia, 
where  they  were  able  to  deliver  themselves  from  a  perilous 
condition  only  through  great  presence  of  mind,  they  sent  one 
of  their  company  to  a  malicious  and  powerful  Arab,  to  threat- 
en him.  He  answered  them  :  **  I  know  what  sort  of  people 
you  are.  I  have  consulted  my  cup  and  found  in  it  that  you 
are  from  a  people  of  whom  one  of  our  prophets  has  said  : 
There  will  come  Franks  under  every  kind  of  pretence  to  spy 
out  the  land.  They  will  bring  hither  with  them  a  great  mul- 
titude of  their  country-men,  to  conquer  the  country  and  to 
destroy  all  of  the  people." 

The  Arrival  of  Jacob  and  his  Family  in  Egypt,  and  their 
Settlement  in  Goshen. 

A  remarkable  parallel  to  the  description  of  the  arrival  of 
Jacob's  family  in  Egypt,  chap,  xlvi,  is  furnished  by  a  scene  in 
a  tomb  at  Beni  Hassan :  '*  strangers"  who  arrive  in  Egypt.t 
They  carry  their  goods  with  them  upon  asses.  The  number  37 
is  written  over  them  in  hieroglyphics.  The  first  figure  is 
an  Egyptian  scribe,  who  presents  an  account  of  their  arrival 
to  a  person  in  a  sitting  posture,  the  owner  of  the  tomb  and 
one  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh. |  The 
next,  likewise  an  Egyptian,  ushers  them  into  his  presence, 
and  two  of  the  strangers  advance,  bringing  presents,  the  wild 
goat  and  the  gazelle,  probably  as  productions  of  their  country. 
Four  men  with   bows  and   clubs   follow  leading  an   ass,  on 

*  Vol.  111.  p.  68.  Edit.  Langles,  quoted  from  Burder  in  Rosenm. 
Alt.  u.  Neu.  Morgenl.  Th.  I.  S.  212. 

t  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II.  p.  296  and  7,  and  plate. 

•:  Comp.  the  phrase,  "Princes  of  Pharaoh,"  in  chap.  12:  15. 


40  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

which  there  are  two  children  in  panniers,  accompanied  by  a 
boy  and  four  women.  Last,  another  ass  laden  and  two  men, 
one  of  whom  carries  a  bow  and  club,  and  the  other  a  lyre, 
which  he  plays  with  the  plectrum.  "  All  the  men  have  beards, 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  Egyptians,  although  very  gene- 
ral in  the  East  at  that  period,  and  represented  in  their  sculp- 
tures as  a  peculiarity  of  foreign  uncivilized  nations."  Some 
believe  that  this  painting  has  a  direct  reference  to  the  arrival 
of  Jacob  with  his  family  in  Egypt.  On  the  contrary,  Wi  1- 
kinson*  remarks,  the  expression,  "captives,"  which  ap- 
pears in  the  inscription,  makes  it  probable  that  they  are  of 
the  number  of  prisoners  so  frequently  occurring,  who  were 
taken  captive  by  the  Egyptians  during  their  wars  in  Asia. 
But  in  his  more  recent  work,  he  considers  this  circumstance^ 
as  no  longer  decisive.  "  The  contemptuous  expressions,"  he 
says,  "  common  among  the  Egyptians  in  speaking  of  for- 
eigners, might  account  for  the  use  of  this  word."  In  fact, 
it  speaks  very  decidedly  against  the  idea  of  their  being  pri- 
soners, that  they  are  armed. t     Whether  this  painting  has  a 

*  Egypt  and  Thebes,  p.  26. 

t  Rosellini,  who  speaks  at  length  on  this  representation,  in  a  sepa- 
rate section,  Vol.  III.  1.  p.  48  seq.,  "  Concerning  a  picture  of  the 
tombs  of  Beni  Hassan,  representing  some  foreign  slaves  which  are 
sent  by  king  Osirtasen  II.  as  a  present  to  a  military  chieftain,"  con- 
siders it  certain,  that  these  individuals  are  captives,  since  they  are  so 
designated  in  the  inscription.  But  even  the  inscription,  when  it  is 
allowed  to  hnve  its  just  and  certain  significance,  gives  no  suppoit  to 
this  opinion,  since  the  epithet,  captives,  as  Wilkinson  supposes,  may 
be  adequately  accounted  for  by  the  pompous  style  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  their  disdainful  arrogance,  which  would  not  allow  them  to  speak 
of  foreigners  except  in  connection  with  victory  and  captivity.  At 
any  rate,  the  picture  is  more  to  be  relied  on  than  the  inscription,  and 
in  this,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that  they  are  armed,  which  has  already 
been  mentioned,  tlie  circumstance,  that  the  persons  delineated  bring 
gifts  and  play  on  musical  instriiments,  things  which  captives  are  not 
and  cannot  be  found  represented  as  doing  on  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, is  decisive. 


HATRED  OF  SHEPHERDS  IN  EGYPT.  41 

direct  reference  to  the  Israelites  will  of  course  ever  remain 
problematical,  but  it  is  at  any  rate  very  noticeable,  as  it  fur- 
nishes proof  that  emigration  with  women  and  children,  into 
the  Egyptian  State,  and  formal  admission,  took  place  even 
in  very  ancient  times,  or  more  correctly  yet,  in  these  times. 

Joseph  charges  his  brothers,  chap.  46:  34,  that  they  shall 
say  to  Pharaoh,  that  they  are  shepherds,  in  order  that  they 
may  obtain  a  residence  apart  from  the  Egyptians  in  the  land 
of  Goshen.  "  For,"  adds  the  author,  "every  shepherd  is  an 
abomination  to  the  Egyptians."  The  monuments  even  now 
furnish  abundant  evidence  of  this  hatred  of  the  Egyptians  to 
shepherds.  The  artists  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  vie  with 
each  other  in  caricaturing  them.*  In  proportion  as  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  land  was  the  more  unconditionally  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Egyptian  State,  the  idea  of  coarseness  and  bar- 
barism was  united  with  the  idea  of  a  shepherd  among  the 
Egyptians.! 

The  region  in  which  the  Israelites  received  their  residence, 
the  land  of  Goshen,  is  designated.  Gen.  47:  6,  II,  as  the  hesi 
of  the  land.  This  statement  has  occasioned  interpreters 
some  perplexity,  but  it  is  justified  by  what  Wilkinson, 
without  reference  to  this  passage,  says  of  the  nature  of  this 
eastern  district:  "It  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  observe,  that 
no  soil  is  better  suited  to  many  kinds  of  produce  than  the 
irrigated  edge  of  the  desert,  (it  is  generally  composed  of  lime 
mingled  with  sand,)  even  before  it  is  covered  by  the  fertiliz- 
ing deposit  of  the  inundation. "| 

Since  the  reference  of  the  Pentateuch  to  the  geographical 
relations  of  Egypt  are  most  numerous  in  the  chapters  now 
under  consideration,  it  will  appear  proper  that  we  make 
them  the  subject  of  a  connected  examination  in  this  place. 

*  Wilk.  II.  p.  ]6. 

t  Concerning  the  causes  of  this  hatred  of  the  Egyptians,  see  espe- 
cially Rosellini,  I.  1.  p.  178  seq.,  also  Heeren,  S.  149. 
X  Wilk.  I.  p.  222. 

4* 


42 


EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


The  bearing  and  importance  of  these  separate  notices  can  be 
correctly  understood  only  when  thus  seen  in  connection. 


REFERENCES  OF  THE  PENTATEUCH  TO  THE  GEO- 
GRAPHICAL FEATURES  OF  EGYPT. 

The  Land  of  Goshen. 

The  references  of  the  Pentateuch  to  the  geographical  fea- 
tures of  Egypt,  as  we  should  naturally  expect  in  a  book  of 
■sacred  history,  are  neither  numerous  nor  particular;  yet 
•enough  of  these  references  exist  to  show  that  its  author  pos- 
sessed an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  topography  of  the  coun-  - 
try  to  which  he  alludes.  And  the  more  scattered,  incidental 
and  undesigned  these  notices  are,  the  more  certain  is  the 
proof  which  they  afford,  that  the  author's  knowledge  was  of 
no  secondary  character,  was  not  laboriously  produced  for  the 
occasion,  but  on  the  contrary,  natural,  acquired  from  his  own 
personal  observation,  and  was  such  as  to  preserve  him  from 
every  mistake,  without  the  necessity  of  his  being  constantly 
on  his  guard. 

Let  us  direct  our  attention,  first,  to  what  the  author  says 
o^  the  land  of  Goshen.  He  nowhere  gives  a  direct  and  mi- 
nute account  of  the  situation  of  this  land.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent that  this  must  be  referred  to  some  other  cause  than 
his  ignorance,  since  he  communicates  in  reference  to  it,  a 
great  number  of  separate  circumstances  which,  although 
some  of  them  appear  at  first  view  to  be  entirely  at  variance 
with  each  other,  are  yet  found  to  be  entirely  consistent  when 
applied  to  a  particular  district. 

Tlie  land  of  Goshen  appears,  on  the  one  hand,  as  the  eastern 
border-land  of  Egypt.  Thus  it  is  said.  Gen.  46:  28  :  "And 
he  [Jacob]  sent  Judah  before  him  unto  Joseph,  to  direct  his 
face  unto  Goshen."     That  Jacob  should  send  Judah  before 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN.  43 

him,  to  receive  from  Joseph  the  necessary  orders  for  the  re- 
ception of  those  entering  the  country,  is  entirely  in  accord- 
ance with  the  regulations  of  a  well-organized  kingdom,  whose 
borders  a  wandering  tribe  is  not  permitted  to  pass  uncere- 
moniously. This  account  also  agrees  accurately  with  the  in- 
formation furnished  on  this  point  by  the  Egyptian  monuments.* 
That  Jacob  did  not  obtain  the  orders  of  Joseph  until  he  was 
at  Goshen,  shows  that  this  was  the  border-land.  We  come 
to  the  same  result  also  from  chap.  47;  1 :  "  And  Joseph  came 
and  told  Pharaoh,  and  said,  My  father  and  my  brethren  are 
come  out  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  behold  they  are  in  the 
land  of  Goshen."  It  is  most  natural  that  they  should  remain 
in  the  border-province  until  the  matter  was  laid  before  the 
king.  This  is  also  confirmed  by  Gen.  46:  34 :  "  And  ye 
shall  say,  Thy  servant's  trade  hath  been  about  cattle — from 
our  youth  even  until  now — that  ye  may  dwell  in  the  land  of 
Goshen ;  for  every  shepherd  is  an  abomination  unto  the 
Egyptians;"  for  this  passage  can  only  be  explained  on  the 
supposition  that  Goshen  is  a  frontier  province,  which  could 
be  assigned  to  the  Israelites  without  placing  them  in  close 
contact  with  the  Egyptians,  who  hated  their  manner  of  life. 
Finally,  the  circumstance,  that  the  Israelites  under  Moses, 
after  they  had  assembled  at  the  principal  town  of  the  land, 
had  reached  in  two  days  the  confines  of  the  Arabian  desert, 
points  to  Goshen  as  the  eastern  boundary. 

On  the  other  handy  Goshen  appears  again  as  lying  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  chief  city  of  Egypt.  Thus  in  Gen. 
45:  10:  "And  thou  shalt  dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  and 
thou  shalt  be  near  to  me"  (to  Joseph  who  dwelt  in  the  prin- 
cipal city  of  Egypt ).t  The  Pentateuch  nowhere  expressly 
mentions  which  was  this  chief  city  of  Egypt,  just  as  the  sur- 
name of  no  one  of  the  reigning  Pharaohs  is  mentioned  by 
Moses,  and  for  the  same  reason.     Yet  the  necessary  data  for 

*  See  remarks  upon  Gen.  xlvi.  p.  39  seq. 
t  So  also  in  chap.  46:  28,  29. 


44  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

designating  this  city  are  found.  It  must  at  any  rate  have 
been  situated  in  Lower  Egypt,  for  this  appears  in  the  Penta- 
teuch generally  as  the  seat  of  the  Egyptian  king.  But  the 
remarkable  passage,  Num.  13:  23":  "And  Hebron  was  built 
seven  years  before  Zoan  of  Egypt,"  points  us  directly  to  Zoan 
or  Tanis,  and  at  the  same  time  plainly  shows  that  the  rea- 
son why  the  author  did  not  mention  the  chief  city  by  name, 
can  be  sought  in  anything  rather  than  in  his  ignorance  con- 
cerning it.  That  Zoan  is  here  directly  named  by  way  of  com- 
parison, implies,  first,  that  it  was  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in 
^gyp^-*  Secondly,  that  it  held  the  first  rank  among  the 
Egyptian  cities,  and  stood  in  the  most  important  connection 
with  the  Israelites.  Hebron,  the  city  of  the  patriarchs,  could 
be  made  more  conspicuous  only  by  a  comparison  with  the 
chief  city  of  Egypt,  arrogant  and  proud  of  its  antiquity,  and 
there  was  no  motive  for  such  a  comparison,  except  with  a 
city  which  by  its  arrogance  had  excited  the  jealousy  of  the 
Israelites.  The  designation,  Zoan  of  Egypt,  which  means 
more  than  that  the  city  lay  in  Egypt,  also  indicates  that  this 
was  the  chief  city.  What  is  here  only  intimated  is  expressly 
affirmed  in  Ps.  78:  12,  43;  where  it  is  said,  Moses  performed 
his  wonders  **  in  the  field  of  Zoan."  In  accordance  with 
the  foregoing  intimations,  which  bring  us  into  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  chief  city,  Moses  is  exposed  on  the  bank  of  the 
Nile,  Ex.  2:  3,  and  at  the  place  where  the  king's  daughter 
was  accustomed  to  bathe,  v.  5,  and  the  mother  of  the  child 
lived  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  v.  8.  They  had  fish  in 
abundance,  Num.  11:  5;  they  watered  their  land  as  a  gar- 
den of  herbs,  Deut.  11:  10. 

Further,  the  land  of  Goshen,  on  the  one  hand,  is  described 
as  a  pasture-ground.  So  in  the  passage  above  referred  to. 
Gen.  46:  34,  and  also  in  chap.  47:  4 :  "  They  said  moreover 


*  That  Tanis  already  existed  in  the  time  of  Remesos  the  Great, 
appears  from  th«  monuments  yet  existing  among  its  ruins.  Wilk. 
Vol.  I.  p.  6.  Rosellini,  I.  2.  p.  68. 


THE  LAND  OF  GOSHEN.  45 

unto  Pharaoh,  To  sojourn  in  the  land  are  we  come ;  for  thy 
servants  have  no  pasture  for  their  flocks;  for  the  famine  is 
sore  in  the  land  of  Canaan ;  novi^  therefore  we  pray  thee  let 
thy  servants  dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  land  of  Goshen  appears  as  one  of 
the  most  fruitful  regions  of  Egypt,  chap.  47:  6 :  "In  the 
best  of  the  land  make  thy  father  and  brethren  to  dwell." 
Also  in  verse  11  of  the  same  chap. :  "And  he  gave  them  a 
possession  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  best  of  the  land,  in 
the  land  of  Rameses."  The  Israelites  employed  themselves 
in  agriculture,  Deut.  11:  10,  and  obtained  in  rich  abundance, 
Num.  11:  5,  the  products  which  Egypt,  fertilized  by  the 
Nile,  afforded  its  inhabitants. 

All  these  circumstances  harmonize,  and  the  different  points, 
discrepant  as  they  may  seem,  find  their  application,  when 
we  fix  upon  the  land  of  Goshen  as  the  region  east  of  the 
Tanitic  arm  of  the  Nile  as  far  as  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  or  the 
border  of  the  Arabian  desert,  Ex.  18:  20.  Goshen  then 
comprised  a  tract  of  country  very  various  in  its  nature.  A 
great  part  of  it  was  a  barren  land,  suitable  only  for  the  pas- 
turage of  cattle.  Yet  it  also  had  very  fruitful  districts,  so 
that  it  combined  in  itself  the  peculiarities  of  Arabia  and 
Egypt.  To  it  belonged  a  part  of  the  land  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile  ;*  also  the  whole  of  the 
Pelusiac  branch  with  both  its  banks,  which  as  late  as  in  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great  was  navigable — through  it  his 
fleet  pressed  into  Egypt, — but  is  now  almost  entirely  filled 
up  with  the  sand  of  the  desert,  while  the  Tanitic  arm,  being 
further  removed  from  the  desert,  has  sustained  itself  better.t 
Between  two  branches  of  the  Pelusiac  canal  lies  the  island 
Mycephoris,  which  in  ancient  times  was  inhabited  by  the 
Calasiries,  or  a  part  of  the  military  caste.     Of  this  island 

*  On  which  see  Ritter  also,  Afrika,  S.  827. 

t  See  Malus,  Memoire  sur  1'  etat  ancien  et  moderne  des  provinces 
Orientales  de  la  basse  Egypte,  Descr.  18.  2.  p.  18, 


46  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Ritter*  says:  "At  this  present  time  it  is  a  well  cultivated 
plain  full  of  great  palm-groves  and  opulent  villages."  "  Gene- 
rally," continues  the  same  author,  "  the  country  here  is  by 
no  means  barren  ;  the  water  of  the  canal  diffuses  its  blessings 
everywhere.  Thus  there  lies  upon  the  canal  about  fifteen 
miles  below  Bustah,  the  little  modern  village  Heyeh,  sur- 
rounded by  rich  palm-groves,  which  is  almost  entirely  un- 
known to  recent  Geographers,  but  in  its  vicinity  is  a  luxu- 
riance of  vegetation  which  makes  the  country  appear  like  a 
European  garden. "t  So  is  it  even  now  with  this  region, 
notwithstanding  the  great  bogs  and  sand  heaps  which  have 
been  here  formed  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years.|  Even 
in  the  interior  of  the  ancient  land  of  Goshen,  there  is  still  a 
large  tract  of  land  good  for  tillage,  and  fruitful.  There  is, 
for  example,  a  valley  which  stretches  through  the  whole 
breadth  of  this  province  from  west  to  east,  and  in  which,  as 
we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  ancient  chief  city  of  this  province 
lay.  This  tract  of  land,  from  the  ancient  Babastis  on  the 
Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile  even  to  the  entrance  of  the  Wady 

*  S.  824.  t   Comp.  Deut.  11:  10,  "as  a  garden  of  herbs." 

+  Ritter,  S.  834.  Prokesch,  (In.  den  Erinnerungen  aus  Aegypton 
und  Kleinasien,  Th.  2  S.  130,)  says  :  "  There  is  no  country  that  can- 
not better  dispense  with  the  arts  of  civihzed  life,  than  Egypt.  By 
them  it  can  be  made  a  paradise,  and  without  them  a  desert.  During 
the  century  of  modern  Greek,  Arabian,  Mameluke  and  Turkish  do- 
minion, when,  with  the  exception  of  some  short  intervals,  nothing 
was  done  for  the  country,  the  inhabitants  lived  upon  the  inheri- 
tance which  descended  from  the  flourishing  century  under  the  Pha- 
raohs, Ptolemies  and  Romans,  It  is  no  merit  to  them  that  desert 
and  morass  have  not  swallowed  up  all  of  their  arable  land.  The  ca- 
nals and  dykes  existed  and  still  exist  on  such  a  foundation  and  in  so 
great  numbers,  that  a  thousand  years  would  not  be  sufficient  to  make 
of  Egypt  wljat  the  country  between  the  cataracts  is  at  this  day.  The 
tillable  land  of  Egypt  has  by  degrees  decreased  in  quantity,  as  the 
public  works  of  the  ancients  have  gradually  crumbled,  until  half  its 
extent  has  gone,  but  the  remainder  is  yet  sufficient  to  furnish  suste- 
nance for  a  people  proportionally  less  than  formerly." 


THE  TREASURE-CITIES,  PITHOM  AND  RAAMSES.  47 

Tumilat,  is,  according  to  Le  Pe  re,*  even  now  under  full 
cultivation,  and  is  annually  overflowed  by  the  Nile.  Also  a 
great  part  of  Wady  Tumilat  is  susceptible  of  cultivation,! 
and  likewise  the  eastern  part  of  the  valley  which  is  very 
accurately  delineated  upon  the  chart  of  Lower  Egypt  in  the 
Atlas  of  R  i  1 1  e  r's  Geography,  the  tract  from  Ras  el  Wady  to 
Serapeum,  furnishes  not  merely  pasture  grounds,  but  also 
land  suitable  for  cultivation.! 

It  is  certain,  that  the  Pentateuch  in  the  intimations,  evi- 
dently undesigned,  which  it  gives  of  the  position  and  nature 
of  the  land  of  Goshen  in  the  most  disconnected  passages,  is 
always  consistent  with  itself,  as,  for  example,  in  one  whole 
series  of  passages,  it  alludes  to  the  fact,  that  the  Israelites 
dwelt  upon  the  Nile,  and  in  another,  that  they  dwelt  in  a  bor- 
der-land in  the  direction  of  Arabia.  This  fact,  as  also  the  cir- 
cumstance that  all  its  allusions  to  the  position  and  nature  of 
the  land  are  substantiated  by  actual  geography  without  the 
most  distant  reference  to  an  imaginary  land,  are  not  explica- 
ble, if  the  author  was  dependent  on  uncertain  reports  for  his 
information.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole  serves  to  impress 
us  with  the  conviction,  that  he,  as  would  be  the  case  with 
Moses,  wrote  from  personal  observation,  with  the  freedom 
and  confidence  of  one  to  whom  the  information  communi- 
cated comes  naturally  and  of  its  own  accord,  and  from  one 
who  has  not  obtained  it  for  a  proposed  object. 


The  Location  of  Pharaoh's  Treasure-Cities,  Pithom  and 
Raamses. 

We  go  further.  In  Ex.  1:  11  it  is  said;  "  And  they  built 
for  Pharaoh  treasure-cities,  Pithom  and  Raamses."  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  view  of  the  author,  these  cities, 


*  Memoire  sur  le  canal  des  deux  mers,  in  the  Descr.  t.  11.  p.  116. 
t  Le  Fere,  p.  117.  I  Le  Pere,  p.  121. 


48  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

upon  whose  fortifications  the  Israelites  were  compelled  to 
labor,  were  situated  in  the  land  of  Goshen.  It  is  most  natu- 
ral to  suppose  that  the  Israelites  built  where  according  to  the 
foregoing  account  they  dwelt;  moreover  all  doubt  is  pre- 
cluded, since  one  of  these  cities,  Raamses,  is  afterwards  re- 
presented as  the  place  of  rendezvous  from  which  the  Israel- 
ites commenced  their  departure  from  the  land.  The  ques- 
tion now  is,  whether  these  cities  really  lay  in  the  land  of 
Goshen,  or  did  the  author  probably,  out  of  the  number  of  the 
names  of  Egyptian  cities  known  to  him,  take  two  at  random  ? 
Before  we  answer  these  questions,  we  remark,  that  even 
the  circumstance  that  the  author  represents  the  king  of  Egypt 
as  building  treasure-cities  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  is  in  favor 
of  his  knowledge  of  Egypt,  or  rather  of  his  credibility  as  a 
historian.  Nowhere  are  the  treasure-cities  more  in  place, 
than  precisely  there.  That  they  were  fortijicd,  even  the 
Seventy  understood,  for  they  translate  the  Hebrew  word  here 
directly,  walled  cities.  The  same  thing  is  evident  from 
2  Chron.  8:  3 — 6,  according  to  which  they  were  placed  in 
the  particularly  insecure  border  land  (Hamath),  and  are 
designated  as  **  fenced  cities,  with  walls  and  gates  and  bars." 
Compare  II:  12,  where  the  store-cities  are  spoken  of  in  con- 
nection with  castles.  But  that  such  walled  cities  provided 
with  stores  of  provisions  were  nowhere  more  needed  than  on 
the  eastern  boundary  of  Egypt,  is  indeed  evident  from  the 
circumstance,  that  according  to  the  accounts  of  profane 
writers,  just  upon  this  border,  the  most  exposed  of  all,  the 
military  power  of  the  Egyptians  was  concentrated.  ''It  is 
clear  from  Herodotus,"  says  Heeren,*  "that  almost 
the  whole  military  force  of  Egypt  was  stationed  in  Lower 
Egypt;  four  and  a  half  districts  within  the  Delta  were  pos- 
sessed by  the  Hermotybies,  and  twelve  others  by  the  Cala- 
siries.     On  the  contrary,  only  one  district  was  possessed  by 

*  S.  37. 


THE  TREASURE-CITIES,  PITHOM  AND  RAAMSES  49 

each  of  these  in  all  Middle  and  Upper  Egypt,  namely  the  dis- 
trict of  Chemmis  and  Thebes."  Of  the  land  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Tanitic  arm  of  the  Nile,  R  i  1 1  e  r*  says  :  "  This 
is  believed  to  be  the  land  of  the  ancient  Calasiries  who  were 
here  to  guard  the  ancient  ports  of  Egypt  against  irruptions 
from  Asia."t 

We  will  now  endeavor  to  determine  the  position  of  the  two 
cities  named.  With  regard  to  the  first,  this  can  be  determin- 
ed without  difficulty.  It  will  be  denied  by  no  one,  that  it  lay 
within  the  land  of  Goshen.  Pithom  is  incontestibly,  and  by 
universal  admission,  identical  with  the  Patumos  of  H  e  r  o  d  o- 
t  u  s-l  Speaking  of  the  canal  which  connected  the  Nile  with 
the  Red  Sea,  this  author  says  :  "  The  water  was  admitted 
into  it  from  the  Nile.  It  began  a  little  above  the  city  Bubas- 
tis,  near  the  Arabian  city  Patumos,  but  it  discharged  itself 
into  the  Red  Sea."!!     According  to  this,  Patumos  was  situ- 


t  The  declarations  of  ancient  writers  with  regard  to  the  chief  sta- 
tions of  the  military  caste  in  Egypt,  are  of  no  small  importance  respec- 
ting another  passage  of  the  Pentateuch.  They  show  how  appropriate 
it  is,  when  the  author  in  Ex.  xiv,  represents  the  Egyptian  host  as  ready 
forthwith  to  pursue  after  the  Israelites,  and  as  able  to  overtake  them 
in  a  short  time.  "  In  Mosaic  times,"  says  Heeren,  S.  37,  "  the  mili- 
tary caste  first  make  their  appearance  in  Lower  Egypt.  The  sudden- 
ness with  which  the  Pharaoh  who  then  ruled  could  assemble  the  ar- 
my with  which  he  pursued  the  Israelites  in  their  Exodus,  shows  dis- 
tinctly enough,  that  the  Egyptian  military  caste  must  have  had  their 
head-quarters  in  just  the  same  region  in  which  Herodotus  places 
them." 

t  Book  2.  c.  158. 

W^Hxzai  ds  ano  xov  NeiXov  ro  vSwq  ig  avrr^v  rinrat  §e  xaTi'usQd's 
okiyov  Bov^dariog  noXtog^  naQo,  Jldrovfiov  xriv  AQa^iriv  ttoXcv  ■  ial- 
X£i  §£  is  TTJv  eQvd'Qrjv  d'dXaaaav.  Larcher  wishes  arbitrarily  to  place 
a  point  after  'jtoXiog,  and  reject  the  §e  after  ioexst-  Lange  follows  his 
example.  Bahr,  on  the  contrary,  says  :  Quidni  enim  Herodoto  dicere 
licuit:  ductum  esse  canalem  paulo  supra  Bubastin  urbem,  juxta  Pa- 
tumon,  Arabiae  urbem  (quam  sc.  urbem  praeterfluat),  ab  ea  autem 
haud  procul  in  mare  exire.     But  Bahr  has  not  been  able  to  entirely 

5 


50  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

ated  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile,  not  far 
from  the  entrance  of  the  canal  which  unites  the  Nile  with 
the  Red  Sea,*  in  the  Arabian  part  of  Egypt. t  The  Itine- 
rarium  Antonini  furnishes  a  further  limitation.  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  Thum  which  is  mentioned  is 
identical  with  Patumos  and  Pithora.  The  n  is  merely  the 
Egyptian  article.i:  Now  this  Thum  was  twelve  Roman  miles 
distant  from  Heroopolis,||  whose  ruins  are  found  in  the  region 
of  the  present  Abu  Keisheid.  All  these  designations  are 
appropriate,  if  with  the  scholars  who  accompanied  the  French 
Expedition  we  place  Pithom  on  the  site  of  the  present  Abba- 
seh,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Wady  Tumilat,  where  there  was 
at  all  times  a  strong  military  post. 

Let  us  now  seek  to  determine  the  location  of  Raamses. 
That  the  author  supposed  it  lay  in  Goshen  we  have,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  general  reasons  already  referred  to,  a  particular 
one.  It  is  said  in  Gen.  47:  11  :  '*  And  Joseph  gave  them  a 
possession  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  best  of  the  land,  in  the 
land  of  Rameses."  The  same  land  which  is  everywhere  in 
the  preceding  and  succeeding  context  called  the  land  of  Go- 
free  himself  from  the  error  of  Larcher.  From  his  inclination  towards 
it  comes  tlie  entirely  arbitrary  addition  of,  ab  ea  baud  procul.  Hero- 
dotus gives  no  such  information  as  this :  Patumos  is  situated  near 
the  place  where  the  canal  discharges  itself  into  the  Red  Sea.  Ac- 
cording to  him,  Patumos  lay  rather,  near  the  commencement  of  the 
canal :  it  began  above  Bubastis  and  near  Patumos,  and  ended  in  the 
lied  Sea. 

*  If  the  passage  from  Herodotus  is  correctly  understood,  Patumos, 
situated  near  the  beginning  of  the  canal,  cannot  be  identical  with 
Heroopolis,  as  is  erroneously  asserted  by  some. 

t  Compare  Btlhr  upon  the  passage  :  Arabiaedicitur  urbs,  quod  om- 
nes  Aegypti  urbes  a  Nilo  Arabiam  versus  sitae  hoc  nomine  vulgo  af- 
ficiuntur.  The  Seventy  translate  ')^pi,  in  Gen.  45:  10,  by  FsatfA,  '^- 
Qa^ta^j  just  as  Herodotus  calls  Patumos  an  Arabian  city. 

\  Champollion  I'Egypte  sous  Ics  Pharaons  t.  2.  p.  58. 

II  Itin.  Ant. 


THE  TREASURE-CITIES,    PITHOM  AND  RAAMSES.  51 

shen,  is  here  designated  as  the  land  of  Rameses,  or  the  land 
whose  chief  city  is  Rameses  ;*  and  this  is  entirely  in  accord- 

*  According  to  the  common  opinion,  the  so  called  land  Rameses  in 
this  passage  is  not  the  same  as  the  city  Raamses  in  Ex.  1,11.  But 
the  reason  which  is  relied  upon  in  favor  of  this  difference,  (see  for  ex- 
ample Michaelis  Supplem.  p.  2256,)  the  dissimilarity  of  punctuation, 
(which  is  however  very  trifling,)  is  of  little  force.  The  Raamses  in 
Ex.  1:  11  is  evidently  only  the  fuller  sounding  pause-form.  But  that 
also  in  Gen.  47:  11,  the  cittj  Raamses  is  spoken  of,  is  favored  by  the 
following  argument.  In  three  passages  of  the  Pentateuch  besides  Ex. 
i.,  in  Ex.  12:  37  and  Num.  33:  3  and  5,  Raamses  is  undeniably  the 
name  of  a  city.  (It  is  true  that  some  have  wished  to  make  it  even  in 
these  last  two  passages  the  name  of  a  province  ;  so  has  even  v.  Rau- 
mer,  in  The  Exodus  of  the  Israelites,  S.  11.  But  it  is  perfectly  clear 
that  this  cannot  be.  Let  us  look  at  the  passages  a  little  more  minute- 
ly :  "  And  the  children  of  Israel  removed  from  Rameses  and  pitched 
in  Succoth,  and  they  departed  from  Succoth  and  pitched  in  Etham." 
If  Succoth  and  Etham  are  names  of  a  single  district,  not  of  an  entire 
province,  so  must  Rameses  also  be.)  On  the  contrary,  Rameses  is 
found  in  no  other  passage  as  the  name  of  a  province.  Accordingly 
then  the  presumption  is,  that  Rameses  in  Gen.  47: 11  is  the  name  of  a 
city.  If  the  author  did  not  intend  to  be  so  understood,  he  ought  to  have 
explained  himself  more  minutely.  But  Rameses  cannot  properly  be 
the  name  of  the  province  in  Gen.  47,  since  this  before  and  after  is 
called  Goshen. — Rosellini  is  also  of  the  opinion,  I.  1.  p.  300,  that  the 
Rameses  in  Gen.  47  is  identical  with  the  one  in  Exodus  I.  The  au- 
thor of  the  book  of  Genesis,  he  supposes,  intends  to  say  that  Joseph 
placed  his  father  and  his  family  in  the  region  in  which  the  city  Raam- 
ses was  afterwards  built.  It  is  improbable,  even  w^hen  we  leave 
Ex.  1:  11  out  of  the  account,  (that  this  passage  is  not  in  favor  of  the 
previous  non-existence  of  R.aamses,  Michaelis  has  already  remarked, 
Suppl.  p.  2256)  that  this  city  was  already  in  existence  in  the  time  of 
Joseph.  The  name  furnishes  an  argument  against  it.  Raamses 
means:  consecrated  to  the  sun  (see  I.  1.  p.  117)  and  it  is  very  com- 
mon among  the  Egyptian  kings,  especially  those  of  the  Mosaic  pe- 
riod. The  city  evidently  derived  its  name  from  one  of  these  kings. 
But  according  to  ancient  authors  and  the  monuments,  the  name  Re- 
meses  was  given  to  no  one  before  the  eleventh  Pharaoh  of  the  eight- 
eenth dynasty,  whose  reign  was  considerably  subsequent  to  the  time 
of  Joseph, 


V 


52  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

ance  with  Ex.  12;  37  and  Num.  33:  3,  5,  where  Rameses, 
since  the  departure  of  the  Israelites  commences  there,  is 
clearly  designated  as  a  central  point  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 

Now  with  reference  to  the  inquiry  whether  Raamses  was 
really  situated  where  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch  places  it, 
the  proof  which  alone  is  sure,  is  furnished  by  the  Alexandrian 
translation  of  Gen.  46:  28,29.  While  the  original  text  names 
simply  Goshen,  the  translator  has  in  verse  28  :  "  But  Judah 
he  sent  before  him  to  Joseph,  that  he  might  come  to  meet 
him  at  Heroopolis  in  the  land  of  Rameses"  (avvavTflfrai  ai- 
ToJ  xa5^  '^Jlgojwv  tioXlv  elg  yr^v  'Pafisaarj,)  and  in  v.  29  :  "  And 
Joseph  prepared  his  chariot,  and  went  up  to  meet  Israel,  his 
father,  at  Heroopolis"  {xad^  ?;^wcov  tioXlv).  It  is  certain  that 
"  at  Heroopolis  in  the  land  Rameses"  is  no  arbitrary  conceit 
of  the  Seventy.  They  took  the  designation  "  land  Rameses" 
instead  of  Goshen  from  Gen.  47:  II,  where  the  author  him- 
self substitutes,  for  Goshen,  the  land  of  Rameses.  In  the 
phrase  "  at  Heroopolis,"  for  the  name  Rameses,  which  had 
gone  out  of  use,  Heroopolis,  the  current  name  in  their  lime, 
was  substituted.  The  city  Raamses  was  to  them  the  same 
as  Heroopolis,  the  land  of  Rameses  therefore  was  situated  in 
the  vicinity  of  Heroopolis. 

This,  which  is  as  good  as  a  direct  declaration  of  the  Seventy 
that  Raamses  is  identical  with  Heroopolis,  seems  of  no  small 
importance  when  we  consider  that  the  Greek  name,  Heroopo- 
lis, cannot  be  older  than  the  time  of  the  Greek  dominion  over 
Egypt,  while  the  Alexandrian  translation  of  the  Pentateuch 
was  made  as  early  as  the  first  period  of  this  dominion  ;  so 
that  the  earlier  name  of  the  city  could  scarcely  be  unknown 
to  the  translator.  According  to  Mannert,*  indeed,  the 
city  is  not  supposed  to  have  existed  before  the  time  of  the 
Greek  dominion,  and  accordingly  had  no  earlier  name.  "  It 
was,"  he  says  very  confidently,  "  a  new  Grecian  city,  built 

*  S.  576  der  alien  Geographie  von  Aegyptcn. 


«/ 


THE  TREASURE-CITIES,    PITHOM  AND  RAAMSES.  53 

merely  on  account  of  the  canal,  and  for  the  sake  of  trade. 
Neither  Herodotus  nor  any  writer  before  the  age  of  the 
Ptolemies  was  acquainted  with  it,  hence  its  Greek  name." 
But  even  the  name  itself,  as  will  directly  appear,  carries  us 
back  to  remote  antiquity  ;  and  what  is  most  important,  if  it 
was  entirely  new,  how  could  the  Seventy  have  identified  it 
with  Heroopolis. 

The  agreement  of  the  two  names  indicates  also  that  the 
Seventy  have  justly  identified  the  Heroopolis  of  their  time 
with  the  ancient  Raamses,  just  as  in  chapter  41: 45  they  have 
placed  for  the  On  of  the  original  text,  Heliopolis,  the  Greek 
name.  That  the  city  Raamses  borrowed  its  appellation  from 
one  of  the  honored  rulers  of  that  name  is  not  surely  now 
doubted  by  any  one  ;  the  etymology  proposed  by  J  a  b  1  o  n- 
s  k  i,  which  entirely  leaves  out  of  the  account  the  connection 
between  the  city  and  the  rulers  of  the  same  name,  is  wholly 
unworthy  of  notice.  When  we  now  see  from  the  monuments 
how  much  the  Egyptians  employed  the  name  Remeses,  and 
what  associations  they  connected  with  it,  the  Greek  name 
Heroopolis,  city  of  Heroes,  seems  a  very  suitable  translation 
of  the  ancient  Egyptian  name. 

Now  it  is  admitted  by  all  the  authorities  respecting  the  lo- 
cation of  Heroopolis,  that  it  was  situated  in  the  ancient  land 
of  Goshen.  For  our  immediate  object  therefore  we  need  not 
enter  upon  a  more  accurate  determination  of  its  position. 
Yet  it  is  of  so  much  importance  for  the  geographical  investi- 
gation concerning  the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites  to  which  we 
shall  next  direct  our  attention,  that  as  a  preparation  for  that, 
we  must  endeavor  to  settle  more  accurately  its  position. 

The  ancient  geographers  until  the  time  of  the  French  ex- 
pedition, following  the  [inaccurate]  statements  of  several  an- 
cient writers,  looked  for  Heroopolis  directly  on  the  Arabian 
Gulf*     Against  the  admission  of  this  opinion,  the  following 

*  Mannert,  S.  514,  adhering  to  this  view,  still  looks  for  Heroopolis 
at  the  end  of  the  canal  which  united  the  Nile  with  the  Ked  Sea,  be- 
5* 


54  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

reasons  are  especially  important.  First,  Heroopolis,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  is  identical  with  the  ancient  Raanises. 
But  this  could  not  lie  on  the  Arabian  Gulf,  since  the  Israel- 
ites did  not  arrive  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Arabian  Gulf 
until  the  end  of  the  second  day's  march  which  they  commen- 
ced at  Raamses.  Secondly,  The  passage  Gen.  46:  28,  29, 
according  to  the  Alexandrian  version,  is  entirely  inexplicable 
on  the  supposition  that  Heroopolis  was  on  the  Red  Sea. 
How  could  the  Seventy  then  represent  Joseph  as  going  out 
to  meet  his  father,  Jacob,  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  city, 
which  lay  so  far  out  of  his  course  in  coming  from  Canaan 
into  Egypt  ?  This  reason  is  of  great  importance.  The  Al- 
exandrian translator  must  necessarily  have  known  the  posi- 
tion of  Heroopolis.  His  authority  exceeds  in  importance 
that  of  the  most  accurate  of  the  Greek  Geographers.  Third- 
ly, The  statement  in  the  Ttinerarium  A-ntonini,  according 
to  which  Hero  =  Heroopolis  lay  between  Thum  =  Patumos 
and  Serapium,  about  twelve  Roman  miles  distant  from  each, 
is  also  entirely  at  variance  with  the  older  hypothesis. 

The  correct  position  of  Heroopolis  was  first  determined  by 

tween  the  Bitter  Lakes  and  the  northern  point  of  the  Arabian  Gulf, 
since,  he  remarks,  "  all  ancient  writers  who  speak  of  this  city,  place 
it  in  the  interior  angle  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  not  far  from  the  city  Ar- 
sinoe."  But  Mannert  is  obliged  to  remark,  first,  S.  514,  in  reference 
to  the  considerable  ruin  of  Saba  Biyar  :  "  1  cannot  give  an  explana- 
tion of  it."'  Secondly,  S.  515,  he  concedes  that  the  ruins  of  his  He- 
roopolis cannot  be  found.  Thirdly,  he  remarks  S.  516,  in  reference 
to  the  passage  of  the  Seventy  which  we  shall  examine  farther  in  the 
text :  "  Now  it  certainly  is  the  most  improbable  explanation  of  all, 
which  makes  the  city  to  have  been  situated,  not  far  to  the  south,  but 
on  the  direct  road  which  passes  through  Abu  Keisheid.  But  the 
whole  statement  is  a  mere  error  of  the  translator  ;  the  Hebrew  text 
knows  nothing  of  Heroopolis  ;  Joseph  came  to  Goshen  to  meet  his  fa-' 
ther."  As  if  anything  were  accomplished  by  this  !  Whether  the 
Seventy  translated  correctly  or  not,  is  just  the  same.  It  is  sufficient 
that  they  mention  the  city  Heroopolis  in  a  connection  in  which  a  city 
on  the  Arabian  Gulf  cannot  properly  be  placed. 


THE  TREASURE-CITIES,  PITHOM  AND  RAAMSES.  55 

the  scholars  of  the  French  Expedition,  and  the  view  in  which 
the  majority  of  them  have  united,  has  obtained  ahuost  uni- 
versal assent.  "  The  researches  of  the  members  of  the  E- 
gyptian  Commission,"  says  C  h  a  m  p  o  1 1  i  o  n,*  "  have  furnish- 
ed the  certain  and  acknowledged  result  that  Heroopolis  lies 
between  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile  and  the  Bitter  Lakes 
to  the  northwest  of  these  lakes,  at  a  place  which  is  now  cal- 
led Abu  Keisheid,  from  the  Arab  tribe  which  roves  about  on 
the  Isthmus. 

The  most  accurate  and  vivid  description  of  the  situation  of 
Heroopolis  is  given  by  D  u-B  o  i  s- A  y  m  e,  in  his  treatise  "  Up- 
on the  ancient  bounds  of  the  Red  Sea."t  The  valley  Seba-Bi- 
yar,  called  by  the  Arabs  Wady,  begins  about  two  myriame- 
tres  from  Belbeis.  It  runs  from  east  to  west.  The  Nile  in 
its  greatest  rise  sometimes  reaches  even  to  this  place.  Sweet 
water  is  always  found  here  by  digging  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
decimetres  deep.  The  soil  is  of  the  same  nature  and  appear- 
ance with  that  directly  on  the  Nile.  But  since  the  land  is 
seldom  overflowed,  it  has  less  depth  of  fertile  soil  deposited 
by  the  flood.  It  is  not  more  than  two  decimetres  deep.  Un- 
der this  lies  a  light  clay,  mingled  with  sand.  The  canal 
which  conveys  the  water  of  the  Nile  thither  runs  to  a  distance 
of  about  one  and  a  half  myriametres  to  the  declivity  which 
incloses  the  valley  on  the  north.  This  makes  the  conveyance 
of  the  water  necessary  for  culture  very  easy  for  the  inhabi- 
tants. But  sometimes  the  Nile  does  not  reach  a  height  for 
several  years  sufficient  to  supply  water  for  the  canal ;  and 
then  they  make  use  of  wells  for  irrigation.  At  the  entrance 
of  the  valley  lies  the  village  Abbaseh,|  near  which  is  a  lake 

*  L'Egypte  sous  les  Pharaons,  t.  2.  p.  89. 

t  Descr.  t.  11.  p.  376. 

+  The  same,  on  whose  site  as  has  been  previously  shown,  the  an- 
cient Pithom  or  Patumos  lay.  The  two  fortified  cities  named  in  con- 
nection with  one  another  in  Ex.  1:  11  were  situated  therefore  in  the 
same  valley  and   tlie  fortifications  which   Pharaoh  commanded  to  be 


56  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

called  by  the  Arabs  Birket  el-Fergeh,  or  Birket  eJ-Haj  el- 
Kadem.  This  last  name,  which  signifies  the  ancient  Pil- 
grim's pool,  leads  to  the  conjecture  that  in  the  earliest  term 
of  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  the  great  caravan  which  now  passes 
by  Adsherad,  went  through  the  valley  Seba  Biyar,  in  order 
to  turn  to  the  head  of  the  gulf. — At  two  myriametres  from 
Abbaseh  the  canal  is  interrupted.  There  ends  the  Wady 
Tumilat.  It  takes  this  name  from  the  Arab  tribe  Tumilat, 
who  occupy  this  region.  The  valley  Seba  Biyar  stretches  yet 
two  myriametres  further  to  the  east ;  and  in  about  the  middle 
of  this  part  of  the  valley  there  is  an  extensive  heap  of  ruins 
which  indicate  the  position  of  an  ancient  city;  the  Arabs 
name  this  place  Abu  Keisheid.  Upon  the  point  of  a  little 
hill  which  is  formed  by  these  ruins,  there  lies  a  great  granite 
block,  upon  which  in  relievo  are  hewn  out  three  Egyptian 
deities,"  etc.*  Compare  also  upon  the  site  of  Heroopolis  at 
the  place  where  are  now  the  ruins  of  Abu  Keisheid,  upon  the 
canal  which  connects  the  Nile  with  the  Arabian  Gulf,  in  the 
middle  of  the  Wady,  L  e  P  e  r  e  in  his  treatise  on  the  canal 
of  the  two  Seas.t 


The  March  of  the  Israelites  from  Raamses  to  the  Red  Sea. 

Through  the  just  determination  of  the  position  of  Heroop- 
olis and  consequently  of  Raamses,  the  narrative  of  the  depar- 
ture of  the  Israelites  has  received  an  unexpected  light,  and 
the  credibility  of  the  Pentateuch  a  wonderful  confirmation. 

On  the  second  day  after  their  departure,  the  Israelites  came 

built  around  both  had  probably  the  common  object  of  obstructing  the 
entrance  into  Egypt,  which  this  valley  furnished  to  the  enemy  from 
Asia.  Pharaoh  had  so  much  the  more  occasion  for  the  construction 
of  these  fortifications,  since  he  believed  that  he  had  reason  to  fear,  that 
the  Israelites  would  readily  make  common  cause  with  the  enemies 
pressing  in  from  this  quarter.  See  Ex.  1:  10. 

*  In  the  Description,  t.  11.  p.  376.  t  Descr.  t.  11.  p.  291  seq. 


THE  DESERT  OF  ETHAM.  57 

into  the  region  about  the  northern  point  of  the  Arabian  Gulf. 
Their  first  station  was  Succoth,  the  second  Etharn,  whose 
position  is  designated  in  Ex.  13:  20,  and  in  Num.  33:  6  by 
the  words  :  "  which  lies  at  the  end  of  the  desert."  That  by 
"  the  desert"  here,  no  other  than  the  Arabian  desert,  begin- 
ning at  the  northern  point  of  the  Red  Sea,*  can  be  meant,  is 
evident  from  the  following  reasons:  1.  Although  the  phrase 
"  the  desert"  is  sometimes  used  with  a  more  unrestricted  re- 
ference, as  for  instance  in  chap.  14:  3,  where  Pharaoh  says, 
*'  They  are  entangled  in  the  land,  the  desert  hath  shut  them 
in,"  and  in  verses  11  and  12  of  the  same  chapter;  so  that 
the  Egyptian  part  of  the  desertf  is  also  included,  yet  this  is 

*  Very  correctly  J.  H.  Michaelis  says  :  nempe  qua  Aegyptum  at- 
tingit. 

t  What  Riippell  says  (Raise  S.  209)  shows  that  the  Eastern  part  of 
Eo-ypt  deserves  this  name,  as  well  as  Arabia  Petraea.  The  west  coast 
of  the  Gulf  of  Suez  and  its  continuation  to  Cosseir  may  be  said  to  be 
without  inhabitant,  and  the  almost  entire  want  of  drinkable  water 
along  the  coast  of  the  sea  is  a  cause  sufficient  to  prevent  settlements 
there.  But  it  is  specially  important  to  compare  the  treatise  "  de  la 
geographie  comparee  et  de  I'ancien  etat  cotes  de  la  mer  rouge,"  by 
Roziere,  in  t.  6  of  the  Descr.  p.  267  :  The  contrast  with  the  adjoining 
region  first  arrests  the  attention  when  the  traveller  enters  upon  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez.  As  long  as  he  is  in  Egypt,  notwithstanding  the 
heat  of  a  scorcliing  sun,  he  beholds  a  fresh  plain,  permeated  by  flow- 
ing water,  shaded  by  palm-trees,  clothed  with  grass,  flowers,  or  the 
golden  harvest ;  a  smiling  and  animated  region,  where  everything 
reminds  him  of  only  abundance  and  fruitfulness.  When  he  comes 
upon  the  Isthmus  under  the  same  sky,  how  great  the  change  !  There 
is  no  trace  of  cultivation  or  of  inhabitant,  no  shade,  no  verdure,  no 
flowing  water,  in  a  word,  nothing  which  can  sustain  life.  So  as  he 
proceeds  farther,  he  seeks  with  anxiety  some  more  fertile  spot  of 
ground  in  the  distance,  but  the  eye  glances  over  the  whole  unending 
expanse  of  the  horizon  in  vain  ;  even  to  both  seas,  on  every  side  is  a 
dry,  leafless  land,  barren  rocks,  glimmering  sand,  a  plain  bare  every- 
where. We  find  just  the  same  contrast  between  Egypt  and  the  de- 
sert in  Ex.  14:  1^':  "  Because  there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt  hast 
thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  desert  ?  Wherefore  hast  thou  dealt 


58  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OP  MOSES. 

to  be  considered  only  as  an  exception  to  the  general  rule. 
"  The  desert"  is  generally  the  Arabian  desert.  2.  The 
phrase,  "  which  lies  at  the  edge  of  the  desert"  was  evidently 
designed  to  show  that  the  Israelites  had  already  arrived  at 
the  border  of  Egypt,  when  they  reached  Etham.  The  ex- 
pression, '*  They  encamped  in  Etham  at  the  edge  of  the  de- 
sert" is  followed  in  both  places  by  the  declaration  that  the 
Israelites  turned  back,  i.  e.  instead  of  crossing  the  boundary, 
they  went  again  further  into  Egypt,  as  in  Num.  33:  7  :  "  And 
they  removed  from  Etham  and  turned  back  to  Pi-hahiroth," 
etc.  But  the  words  do  not  correspond  to  their  evident  de- 
sign, unless  by  the  desert,  the  Arabian  is  specifically  under- 
stood. 3.  The  passage  Num.  33:  8  is  entirely  decisive.  Yet 
in  order  to  perceive  its  full  force  it  must  be  considered  in 
connection  with  what  goes  before  :  verse  5,  "  And  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  removed  from  Rameses  and  pitched  in  Suc- 
coth."  Verse  6,  "  And  they  departed  from  Succoth,  and 
pitched  in  Etham,  which  is  in  the  edge  of  the  desert."  Verse 
7,  "  And  they  removed  from  Etham  and  returned  to  Pi-hahi- 
roth, which  lies  before  Baal-zephon,  and  pitched  before  Mig- 
dol."  Verse  8,  *'  And  they  departed  from  before  Pi-hahiroth, 
and  passed  through  the  midst  of  the  Sea  to  the  desert,  and 
went  three  days'  journey  in  the  desert  of  Etham,  and  pitched 
in  Marah."  According  to  verse  8,  the  part  of  the  Arabian 
desert  which  lies  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Arabian  Gulf 
bore  the  name  of  the  desert  of  Etham.  How  can  this  well 
be  otherwise  explained  than  by  supposing  that  the  place  from 
which  the  desert  takes  its  name  lies  at  the  north  end  of  the 
Arabian  Gulf,  and  consequently  on  the  borders  of  the  desert 
named  from  it  ?  The  sense  is  evidently  this  :  At  the  end  of 
the  second  day  they  had  already  arrived  at  the  borders  of  the 


thus  with  us,  to  carry  us  forth  out  of  Egypt  ?  Is  not  this  what  we  did 
tell  th(!e  in  Egypt,  Let  us  alone  that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians  ; 
for  it  is  hetU-r  for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians,  than  to  die  in  the  wil- 
derness." 


RAAMSES,  THE  PRESENT  ABU  KEISHEID.  59 

Arabian  desert,  at  Etham,  from  which  the  tract  of  country  ly- 
ing next  to  Egypt  receives  the  name,  desert  of  Etham.  But 
instead  of  advancing  directly  into  the  desert,  they  turned 
down  again  farther  into  Egypt  to  the  Arabian  Gulf.  After- 
wards, instead  of  going  round  the  sea,  they  proceeded  through 
it  unto  the  desert  of  Etham. 

Supposing  it  now  certain,  that  the  Israelites  at  the  end  of 
the  second  day's  march  had  reached  the  northern  point  of  the 
Arabian  Gulf,  we  are  then,  according  to  the  common  hypo- 
thesis, tliat  the  Raamses  from  which  the  Israelites  began  their 
march  lay  in  the  region  of  Heliopolis,  brought  into  no  small 
difficulty.  The  distance  is  then  far  too  great.  It  amounts 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Red  Sea  to  twenty-six  hours,  if  we  sup- 
pose with  Sicard  and  von  Raumer*  that  they  passed 
through  the  Valley  of  Wandering,  and  to  as  much,  at  least, 
if,  with  N  i  e  b  u  h  r  they  are  allowed  to  have  taken  the  com- 
mon caravan  route  at  the  present  day  which  leads  from  Cairo 
by  Suez  to  Sinai.  Niebuhrt  says:  "  We  spent  twenty- 
eight  hours  and  forty  minutes,  deducting  the  time  of  resting, 
on  our  way  from  Birket  el  Haj  (four  hours  from  Cairo)." 
Evidently  much  too  great  a  distance  for  so  heavily  laden  a 
train  as  was  that  of  the  Israelites. 

But  if  we  place  Raamses  on  the  site  of  the  present  Abu 
Keisheid,  this  difficulty  entirely  vanishes.  The  distance 
from  this  place  to  the  Red  Sea  is  about  thirteen  French 
leagues. f  This  distance  appears  not  too  great,  but  just  suf- 
ficient, if  it  is  considered  that  the  Israelites  departed  "  in 
haste." 

We  remark  further,  that  the  opinion  of  the  French  scho- 
lars who  look  for  Etham  on  the  site  of  the  present  Bir  Su- 

*  See  von  Raumer,  S.  11,  and  Ritter,  S.  859. 
t  Beschreibung  von  Arabien,  S.  408. 

t  See  Le  Pere  in  the  Description,  1. 1.  p.  84,  who  also  on  pages  74 
seq.  gives  a  description  of  the  way  from  Abu  Keisheid  to  Hei'oopolis. 


60  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

vveis  has  much  probability.*  This  place  is  described  by  Le 
Peret  in  the  following  manner:  '*  The  traveller  comes 
finally  out  of  the  valley  and  reaches  the  plain  of  Suez.  The 
city  as  well  as  the  sea  is  in  sight,  and  a  gentle  declivity  leads 
down  to  Bir  Suweis  or  the  wells  of  Suez  ;  these  wells  are 
only  an  hour  from  Suez."  Etham  must  have  been  situated 
somewhere  in  this  region,  on  account  of  the  designation, 
*'  which  is  at  the  edge  of  the  desert."  What  Du  Bois 
A  y  m  e  says  applies  especially  to  Bir  Suweis  :  "  Sweet  wa- 
ter is  very  scarce  in  this  whole  region,  and  the  wells  must 
determine  the  stations  of  the  caravans." 

"  Between  Migdol  and  the  Sea^ 

Finally  also,- Ex.  14:  2  deserves  a  discussion  in  our  geo- 
graphical section  :  *'  Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel  that  they 
turn  back  and  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth  between  Migdol 
and  the  sea  over  against  Baal-zephon,  before  it  shall  ye  en- 
camp by  the  sea."  Compare  with  Num.  33:  7  :  "  And  they 
removed  from  Etham  and  returned  back  to  Pi-hahiroth  which 
is  before  Baal-zephon,  and  they  pitched  before  Migdol." 

An  insuperable  difficulty  appears  to  lie  here  in  the  phrases 
**  between  Migdol  and  the  sea,"  and  '*  they  pitched  before 
Migdol."  Migdol  is,  doubtless,  as  even  the  Seventy  perceiv- 
ed, identical  with  Magdolum.  But  this  place  lies,  according 
to  the  declaration  of  theltinerarium  A  nton  i  n  i,  only  twelve 
Roman  miles  southward  from  Pelusium.  The  general  cor- 
rectness of  this  declaration  is  confirmed  by  Ex.  29:  10.  30: 
6,  where  in  the  words  from  "  Migdol  to  Syene,"  these  places 
are  opposed  to  each  other ;  Syene  as  being  the  most  southern 
border  of  Egypt,  and  Migdol  the  most  northern,  also  by  the 
passage  in  Herodotus  where  Magdolum  as  the  acknow- 
ledged border  town  of  Egypt  towards  Palestine  is  interchan- 

*  See  for  example  Du  liois-Ayni^  in  a  Ircntive  :  On  the  residence  of 
the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  Descr.  t.  b.  p.  1 13.  1  p.  Gl. 


''  BETWEEN    MIGDOL  AND  THE  SEA.  '  61 

ged  with  Megiddo.*  If  Migdol  was  so  far  distant  from  the 
place  where  the  Israelites  were  encamped — nearly  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  lies  between — how  can  it 
be  said,  that  the  Israelites  "  encamped  between  Migdol  and 
the  sea,"  and  "  pitched  before  Migdol  ?" 

The  difficulty  here  is  removed  by  the  remark,  that  ''  be- 
tween Migdol  and  the  sea,"  and  "  before  Migdol,"  do  not 
serve  for  the  geographical  designation  of  the  place  where  the 
Israelites  were  encamped,  but  rather  call  attention  to  the  pe- 
ril to  which  they  exposed  themselves  by  their  foolish  march. 

That  Migdol  was  a  fortress,  the  name  itself  shows,  since 
it  signifies  tower  or  fortress.  Probably  the  border  garrison 
against  Syria,  which  in  later  times  was  removed  to  the  neigh- 
boring Daphne,  was  stationed  here.  Herodotus  says : 
"  Under  king  Psamaticus  guards  were  stationed  at  Elephan- 
tine against  the  Ethiopians,  as  in  the  Pelusiac  Daphne  against 
the  Arabs  and  Syrians,  and  in  Marea  in  like  manner  against 
Lybia.  And  even  to  this  hour  Persian  guards  are  stationed 
at  the  very  same  places  where  they  were  under  Psamaticus ; 
for  Persians  are  on  guard  at  Elephantine,  and  also  in  Daph- 
ne, "f 

Upon  the  phrase  "  between  Migdol  and  the  sea"  is  found- 
ed the  saying  of  Pharaoh,  "  The  desert  has  shut  them  in." 
They  ought  to  have  sought  to  free  themselves  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible from  this  unfortunate  dilemma — to  go  around  the  north 
end  of  the  Arabian  Gulf  before  the  garrison  marching  out 
from  Migdol  could  block  up  their  way — and  they  had  already 
nearly  escaped.  Then  they  thrust  themselves,  through  an 
inexplicable  misunderstanding,  again  into  the  midst  of  dan- 
ger. 

Thus  also  here,  that  which  appears  at  first  view  to  be  op- 
posed to  the  author's  knowledge  of  Egypt,  is  a  proof  of  it, 
when  more  particularly  examined. 

*  2.  159  Kal  ^I'lQoiat  netfl  6  Nsxojg  ovfi^akojv  Iv  MayBokoi  iviHrjos, 
t  B.  2.  chap.  30. 

6 


0»  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

HISTORY  OF  JOSEPH,  CONTINUED. 
Kings  and  Priests,  the  Posscssoi's  of  the  Land  in  Egi/pt. 

We  proceed  now,  after  finishing  our  inquiry  concerning 
the  references  of  the  Pentateuch  to  the  geographical  features 
of  Egypt,  in  the  explanation  of  the  Egyptian  allusions  in  this 
portion  of  sacred  history,  in  the  order  of  the  chapters.  We 
first  turn  our  attention  to  Gen.  47:  13 — 26. 

Joseph,  according  to  this  account,  purchased  for  Pharaoh 
of  his  subjects  the  right  of  possession  to  their  land,  so  that 
the  whole  country  henceforth  belonged  to  Pharaoh,  "  Only 
the  land  of  the  Priests  bought  he  not ;  for  the  priests  had  a 
portion  assigned  them  of  Pharaoh,  and  did  eat  their  portion 
which  Pharaoh  gave  them  ;  wherefore  they  sold  not  their 
lands,"  verse 22.  The  land  was  divided  out  to  its  former  pos- 
sessors by  lease ;  they  were  compelled  to  pay  a  fifth  of  its 
yearly  produce.  "  And  Joseph  made  it  a  law  over  the  land 
of  Egypt  to  this  day,  that  Pharaoh  should  have  the  fifth  part, 
except  the  land  of  the  priests  only,  which  became  not  Pha- 
raoh's," verse  26. 

Among  the  accounts  of  profane  writers  which  extend  over 
this  same  ground,  those  of  Herodotus  and  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s 
are  of  particular  importance.  The  first  of  these  authors  says  : 
"  The  same  king  (Sesostris)  had  also  divided  the  whole  land 
among  the  Egyptians,  they  said,  and  had  given  to  each  one  a 
square  portion  of  equal  extent,  and  in  this  way  he  obtained 
his  income,  for  he  collected  from  each  individual  a  yearly 
rent.  And  when  the  flood  took  away  something  from  the 
portion  of  one,  he  must  come  to  the  king  and  make  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  calamity.  The  king  then  sent  some  of  his 
servants  to  examine  it  and  measure  how  much  less  the  land 
had  become,  that  the  tenant  might  pay  from  what  remained 
in  proportion  to  the  whole  amount  of  the  imposed  rent."* 
*  B.  2.  c.  101). 


THE  PEASANTS,  NOT  LAND-OWNERS.  63 

According  to  Diodorus,*  all  the  land  in  Egypt  belonged 
either  to  the  priests  or  the  kings,  or  the  military  caste. 

An  important  point  of  agreement  between  the  Biblical  ac- 
count and  profane  writers  comes  here  directly  into  view. 
There  is  an  entire  accordance  with  regard  to  the  prominent 
thing,  namely,  that  the  cultivators  were  not  the  possessors  of 
the  soil.  S  t  r  a  b  of  also  says  that  those  who  were  employed 
in  agriculture  and  trade  held  their  land  subject  to  rent.  In 
the  sculptures,  as  Wilkinson^  shows,  only  kings,  priests 
and  the  military  order  are  represented  as  land-owners.  Con- 
tracts of  sale  lately  discovered,  according  to  which  towns 
seem  to  have  had  their  separate  territories, ||  belong  to  a  very 
late  condition  of  things,  (a  certain,  although  a  limited  right 
of  possession  will  always  arise  in  process  of  time  from  the 
condition  of  tenants,)  and  at  most  warrant  only  the  assertion 
that  the  rule  was  not  without  exceptions.§  ''  We  can  affirm 
with  certainty,"  says  Heeren,^  ''  that  if  not  all,  yet  surely 
the  greatest  and  best  part  of  the  land  belonged  to  the  king,  the 
temples,  the  priests  and  the  military  order.  It  is  further  cer- 
tain that  these  lands  were  cultivated  by  tenants,  whose  pre- 
cise condition,  whether  they  were  fee-farmers  or  temporary 
occupants  of  the  land,  we  do  not  know.  Their  condition 
may  have  been  similar  to  that  of  the  present  Fellahs,  who  by 
no  means  have  full  ownership  of  land.**     But  it  cannot  be 

*  1.  73.  t  17,  p.  787.  t  I.  p.  263. 

II  Bockh  Erklarung  einer  Aeg.  Urkunde,  S.  27. 

§  Anything  further  is  not  desired  by  Bockh.  That  Herodotus 
does  not  recognize  any  special  cast  of  cultivators,  he  explains  by  the 
fact  that  the  peasants  were  not  land  owners,  and  consequently  could 
not  constitute  a  special  caste.  He  supposes  that  the  kings,  priests 
and  soldiers  all  possessed  real  estate  in  the  country,  and  a  part  of  that 
in  the  towns,  but  that  the  inhabitants  of  towns  in  their  very  limited 
provinces  also  had  possessions  in  land, 

IT  S.  142. 

**  We  will  here  quote  what  Girard  says  in  the  Description,  t.  17,  p. 


64  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

doubted  that  the  culture  of  the  soil,  if  it  was  not  entirely,  yet 
was  certainly  for  the  most  part  performed  by  tenants.  These 
therefore  constituted  the  Egyptian  peasantry,"  etc. 

The  narration  in  Genesis,  and  the  consequent  accurate  ac- 
quaintance of  the  author  with  the  condition  of  Egypt  con- 
tended for  by  us,  receive  further  confirmation  from  profane 
writers,  since  they  attribute  to  the  priests  possessions  in  land 
as  their  own,  and  consequently  rent  free.  "  So  much  is  cer- 
tain," remarks  H  e  e  r  e  n,*  "  that  a  greater,  perhaps  the  great- 
est and  best  part  of  the  land  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
priests." 

But  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  important  apparent  con- 
tradictions between  our  narrative  and  the  accounts  of  profane 
writers : 

1.  Herodotus,  it  might  be  said,  ascribes  the  partition 
of  the  land  to  king  Sesostris  ;  but  he  cannot  possibly  be  the 
king  in  whose  time  the  administration  of  Joseph  falls.  But, 
although  Heerent  seeks  to  sustain  this  staternent  of  He- 
rodotus, it  must  be  considered  as  a  fixed  result  of  modern 
investigation,  that  Sesostris  is  not  a  historical  but  a  mythic 
personage,!  to  whom  it  was  the  custom  to  trace  back  all  the 
important  measures  and  the  great  successes  of  the  ancient 

189,  "  upon  the  right  of  possession  in  Egypt,"  since  it  aids  in  the  ex- 
planation of  the  meaning  of  our  passage  :  Such  is  also  the  condition 
of  that  which  they  here  call  private  possessions.  They  remain  in  the 
same  family  less  by  right  of  inheritance  than  as  a  testimony  of  the 
favor  of  the  ruler,  in  whose  hand  it  always  remains  to  dispose  of  them 
according  to  his  will.  These  possessions  are,  as  it  seems,  only  a  kind 
of  revertiblc  and  therefore  entirely  unalienable  fief.  We  cannot  here 
then  with  the  expression,  '  Sale  of  real  estate,'  connect  the  idea  of  an 
invariable  and  absolute  abdication,  but  merely  that  of  a  temporary 
mortgaging  for  a  sum  of  money  which  is  borrowed.  The  real  estate 
will  belong  to  the  lender  until  the  repayment  of  the  money.  Then 
the  owner  receives  the  avails  of  the  land  which  he  had  abandoned. 

*  S.  VM.  t   S.  142. 

t  Bahr  upon  Her.  IV.  S.  5G3. 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  MILITARY  CASTE.  65 

Pharaohs.    And  this  H  e  e  r  e  n  himself  has  also  more  recent- 
ly acknowledged.* 

If,  farther,  Herodotus  appears  to  know  nothing  of  an  ori- 
ginal possession  of  the  land  by  the  Egyptian  cultivators,  but 
rather  considers  the  king  as  the  original  possessor,  the  ad- 
vantage is  so  decidedly  on  the  side  of  the  book  of  Genesis, 
that  the  contradiction  of  Herodotus  confirms  its  credibil- 
ity and  places  in  a  clearer  light,  the  author's  knowledge  of 
Egypt,  which  extends  back  far  beyond  the  time  approached 
by  profane  writers.  The  fact  confirmed  by  Herodotus, 
that  the  king  was  possessor  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  cul- 
tivators implies  a  historical  fact  through  which  it  was  brought 
about.  That  the  king  should  be  the  original  possessor  of  the 
whole  land  is  not  conceivable,  and  is  contrary  to  the  analogy 
of  history,  in  a  country  like  Egypt,  not  obtained  by  conquest. 

2.  According  to  the  representation  in  Genesis,  there  were 
only  two  classes  of  land-owners,  the  kings  and  the  priests. 
Diodorus  on  the  contrary,  whose  declaration  is  confirmed 
by  the  monuments,  mentions  three  classes,  kings,  priests  and 
the  military  caste.  But  Herodotus  furnishes  us  with  the 
data  for  reconciling  this  apparent  contradiction.  According 
to  him  the  real  estate  of  the  military  order  differed  from  that 
of  the  peasants,  since  it  was  free  of  rent ;  but  otherwise  be- 
longed to  the  kings,  and  was  given  by  them  in  fee  to  the  sol- 
diery. According  to  book  2.  chap.  141,  the  land  of  the  mili- 
tary order  was  given  to  them  by  the  kings,  and  taken  away 
by  one  of  the  same,  named  Sethon.  That  this  land  was  in- 
stead of  pay  is  said  in  chap.  168  :  "  They  alone,  of  all  the  E- 
gyptians  except  the  priests,  had  the  following  special  privi- 
lege, namely  :  each  one  had  twelve  acres  of  good  land,  free 
of  rent." 

3.  It  appears  from  the  account  in  Genesis,  verse  22,  that 
the  priests  received  their  support  from  the  king.  On  the 
contrary,  Herodotust  says,  as,  at  least,  it  is  affirmed  by 

*  Gott.  Anz.  1834.  S.  39.  t  2.  c.  37. 

6* 


bo  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Heeren,*  whom  most  in  modern  times,  as  for  example 
Drumann,t  Rosenmueller|  and  B  a  h  r||  follow  :  The 
support  of  the  priests  is  obtained  from  the  revenues  of  the 
land  belonging  to  the  temples,  from  the  temple-treasures. 

This  contradiction  would  disappear  of  itself,  if  we  could 
with  V.  B  o  h  1  e  n§  translate  verse  22  differently  from  what  we 
have  done  above  :  '*  Only  the  land  of  the  priests  he  did  not 
purchase,  for  that  is  a  legacy  to  the  priests  on  the  part  of 
Pharaoh,  and  they  enjoyed  their  privilege  which  Pharaoh 
gave  to  them,  therefore  they  sold  not  their  land."  Accord- 
ing to  this  interpretation  there  is  indeed  no  account  in  this 
passage  of  the  daily  portion  which  the  priests  received  from 
the  king.  The  reason  that  Pharaoh  did  not  purchase  the 
grounds  of  the  priests,  is  this:  they  were  already  themselves 
crown-lands.  But  we  could  not  well  avail  ourselves  of  this 
advantage.  In  the  place  of  the  contradiction  removed,  a  new 
one  would  immediately  arise.  In  opposition  to  other  decla- 
rations, and  to  the  whole  situation  of  the  Egyptian  priests, 
all  possessions  in  land,  properly  so  called,  would  be  denied 
them  in  this  passage. 

Moreover  this  explanation  is  wholly  inadmissible.^     Ac- 

*  S.  132.  t  Ueber  die  Inschrift  zu  Rosette,  S.  158. 

t  Alt.  u.  Neu.  Morgan.  1.  S.  222.  ||  Zu  Herod.  B.  2.  c.  37. 

§   S.  60. 

Tl  The  Hebrew  word  p"n  is  also  used  to  designate  an  allowance  of 
food  in  Prov.  30:  8,  and  31:  15.  The  word  that  is  arbitrarily  inserted 
;by  V.  Bohlen.  The  phrase,  "  the  land  of  the  priests,"  when  compared 
with  verse  20,  can  mean  only  the  land  which  belongs  to  the  priests  as 
their  own  property,  and  also  the  expression  "  except  the  land  of  the 
priests  alone,  became  not  Pharaoh's,"  in  verse  26,  shows  that  the  land 
of  the  priests  was  in  the  fullest  sense  their  own.  After  comparing 
the  words  Cp^h— rs  ^V:=s  with  verse  18  seq.,  according  to  which  the 
Egyptians  sold  their  land  in  order  to  procure  food,  no  one  will  inter- 
pret them  by  "  they  enjoyed  their  privilege."  Finally,  it  cannot, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  supposed,  that  the  same  author  who 
makes  the  Egyptian  peasants  land-owners,  will  deny  to  the  priests 
all  such  possessions. 


SUPPORT  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  67 

cording  to  sound  interpretation,  the  passage  can  mean  only 
as  follows  :  only  the  land  of  the  priests  he  did  not  purchase ; 
for  the  cause,  which  compelled  the  remaining  Egyptians  to 
sell  their  land,  did  not  affect  them,  since  they  received  an  al- 
lowance from  Pharaoh,  so  that,  so  long  as  he  had  bread,  they 
also  had  it. 

But  the  contradiction  may  be  removed  in  another  way,  and 
become  perfect  agreement.  In  the  passage  of  Herodotus* 
especially  relied  on,  the  meaning  is  not  what  it  has  been  af- 
firmed to  be.  It  is  there  said  :  "  And  yet  many  thousand  oth- 
er usages,  I  might  say,  must  they  observe.  But  for  this  there 
is  also  much  favor  shown  them.  For  neither  their  means  of 
support  nor  their  other  expenses  are  derived  from  their  own 
wealth.  But  they  have  their  holy  bread  baked,  and  each  one 
receives  a  great  quantity  of  goose  and  neat's  flesh  every  day  ; 
wine  is  also  given  them."  The  distinction  is  not  here  be- 
tween the  ''  common  treasures"  and  "  private  wealth"  of  the 
priests,  but  between  their  own  property  and  that  which  they 
receive  in  common  with  others  out  of  the  public  treasures, 
from  the  king.  It  is  precisely  the  distinction  between  the 
wealth  of  the  priests  existing  in  lands,  and  their  salary  made 
up  of  natural  productions,  which  appears  in  Genesis  ;  so  that 
this  passage  of  Herodotus,  very  far  from  contradicting  our 
representation,  serves  rather  as  a  strong  confirmation  of  it. 
The  phrase^  "  For  neither  their  means  of  support  nor  other 
expenses  are  derived  from  their  own  wealth, "f  then  leads  de- 
cidedly to  this  conclusion.  For,  since  in  what  precedes  the 
passage  quoted,  individual  priests  are  not  spoken  of,  but 
priests  in  general,  so  it  is  entirely  arbitrary  to  understand  by 
"  their  own  wealth"  the  private  property  of  individuals.  The 
wealth  of  the  priesthood,  in  distinction  from  the  allowance 
which  was  given  them  as  a  reward  for  their  service  can  alone 

*  2.  37. 

t  OvT£  Ti  yaQ  xoiv  otnifioj  xqi^ovGi  outs  SaTTavtojvrai- 


OS  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

then  be  designated  here.  This  declaration  :  "  There  is  much 
favor  shown  them,"  (lit.  they  suffer  much  good),*  contributes 
further  to  this  argument.  For,  since  the  party  receiving,  the 
suffering  subjects  are  the  priests  in  general,  the  activity  must 
come  from  some  other  source  than  from  themselves.  Just  so 
this:  **  There  is  to  them,"  "  there  is  given  them."  But  did 
there  any  doubt  remain  with  regard  to  the  correctness  of  the 
foregoing  explanation,  it  would  be  cleared  away  by  the  ex- 
planation of  Herodotus  himself  in  another  place.  He 
says,f  The  soldiers  alone  besides  the  priests  receive  a  salary 
from  the  king.  Now,  since  the  land  of  the  priests  was  their 
own  property,  their  salary  could  consist  only  of  the  portion 
which  was  given  them. 

But  other  accounts  also  show  that  the  priests  received  their 
support  from  the  king.  *'  The  thirty  judges,"  says  Dru- 
m  ann,"|  priests  of  Heliopolis,  Thebes  and  Memphis  were 
maintained  by  the  king,||  and,  without  doubt,  the  sons  of  the 
priests  also,  all  of  whom  over  twenty  years  of  age  were  given 
to  the  king  as  servants,  or  more  correctly  to  take  the  over- 
sight of  his  affairs.§  As  a  general  rule,  every  one  in  the  im- 
mediate service  of  the  court  is  maintained  by  the  king;  for 
example,  the  two  thousand  soldiers  who  alternating  yearly, 
formed  the  body  guard  of  the  king."^  The  ministers  of 
court  were  in  Egypt  the  priests,  just  as  the  State  was  a  the- 
ocracy, and  the  king  was  considered  as  the  representative  and 
incarnation  of  the  Godhead. 

Diodorus  says  indeed  that  the  whole  maintenance  of 
the  priests,  as  also  the  expenses  for  the  offerings,  etc.,  were 
derived  from  the  revenues  of  the  lands.  But  this  is  true,  at 
any  rate,  only  of  later  times,  when  the  priesthood  had  lost 

*  ndayovoi  Se  xal  ayad'd  orx  oXiya.  t  2.  chap.  168. 

\  S.  15!). 

II  Diodorus  1.  7.").  ^vvTa^ng  dt  tojv  dvaynatojv  naQu  roil  ^aailtvjq 
ro7g  /utv  (fixaaraig  Lxavai  ir^og  3iaT(jorf7)v  txoQyjyoivro  tw  §6  aQXtSi- 
aaattj  nollan)Macoi,.  §  Diod.  1.  70.  IF  Herod.  2.  168. 


MOSAIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  INSTITUTIONS.  69 

much  of  their  income  and  of  the  respect  previously  shown 
them.* 

We  have  hitherto  shown  that  the  author  exhibits  in  the 
narrative  which  we  are  considering  the  most  accurate  know- 
ledge of  the  condition  of  Egypt — such  a  knowledge  as  Moses 
may  more  easily  be  supposed  to  possess  than  any  other  one. 
But  we  cannot  stop  here.  We  must  also  show  that  the  Egyp- 
tian usages  here  referred  to  were  the  groundwork  of  those 
of  the  Israelites  under  discussion  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  that 
a  copying  of  them  can  only  be  accounted  for  when  the  legis- 
lation attributed  to  Moses  truly  proceeded  from  him,  since 
it  was  natural  that  he  and  no  law-giver  of  more  modern  times 
should  have  regard  to  the  Egyptian  institutions  in  forming 
his  laws.  We  will  here  quote  what  has  been  already  said  in 
another  placet  upon  this  point.  **  M  ich  a  el  i  s|:  indeed 
finds  a  reference  in  the  two  tenths  in  Gen.  xlvii.  to  an  Egyp- 
tian law.  '  In  Egypt,'  he  says,  '  the  lands  all  belonged  to 
the  king,  and  the  husbandmen  were  not  the  proprietors  of 
the  fields  which  they  cultivated,  but  farmers  or  tenants  who 
were  obliged  to  give  to  the  king  one  fifth  of  their  produce. 
Gen.  47:  20 — 25.  Just  so  Moses  represents  God,  who  hon- 
ored the  Israelites  by  calling  himself  their  king,  the  sole  pos- 
sessor of  the  soil  of  the  promised  land,  in  which  he  was  about 
to  place  them  by  his  special  providence ;  but  the  Israelites 
were  mere  tenants  ,  who  could  not  alienate  their  land  forev- 
er.]! In  f^ctj  they  were  obliged  to  give  God,  as  also  the 
gyptians  Pharaoh  two  tenths,'  etc.  Indeed  the  copiousness 
of  the  account  must  awaken  the  supposition  of  some  design, 
and  if  we  compare  Lev.  xxv.  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that 
the  representation  of  the  relation  in  which  Egypt  stands  to 

*  Drumann,  S.  159  ff. 

t  Th,  III.  der  Beitrage  zur  Einl.  ins  Alt.  T.  S.  411,  412. 

t  Mos.  Laws,  vol.  I.  §  73. 

Ij  Lev.  25:  23.  Compare  verses  42  and  55. 


70  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

its  visible  king  is  applied  to  the  relation  of  Israel  to  its  invi- 
sible king,  the  king  who  is  also  God."  As  Pharaoh,  we  also 
add,  furnished  support  for  the  priests  out  of  the  fifth  which 
he  received,  so  also  did  Jehovah. 


Embalming,  Lamentation  for  the  Dead,  etc. 

In  Gen.  50  :  2,  3  it  is  said  :  ''  And  Joseph  commanded 
his  servants  the  physicians  to  embalm  his  father,  and  the  phy- 
sicians embalmed  Israel.  And  forty  days  were  fulfilled  for 
hinm  ;  for  so  are  fulfilled  the  days  of  those  who  are  embalmed, 
and  the  Egyptians  mourned  for  him  seventy  days." 

This  passage  gives  occasion  for  the  following  remarks : 
1.  The  phrase,  "  Joseph  commanded  his  servants,  the  phy-' 
sicians,"  is  not  to  be  understood  to  mean  that  all  the  physi- 
cians of  Joseph  took  part  in  this  operation.  The  command 
was  rather  obeyed  by  those  among  the  physicians  of  Joseph 
to  whom  this  business  belonged.  It  is  remarkable  that  we 
find  among  the  domestics  of  Joseph  a  large  number  of  phy- 
sicians. Even  W  a  r  bu  r  ton  has  compared  with  this  ac- 
count what  Herodotus*  says  of  the  healing  art  among  the 
Egyptians  :  "  the  medical  practice  is  divided  among  them  as 
follows :  each  physician  is  for  one  kind  of  sickness,  and  no 
more,  and  all  places  are  crowded  with  physicians ;  for  there 
are  physicians  for  the  eyes,  physicians  for  the  head,  physicians 
for  the  teeth,  physicians  for  the  stomach  and  for  internal  dis- 
ease." Therefore,  remarks  Warburton,  it  ought  not  to 
appear  strange  that  Joseph  had  a  considerable  number  of 
family  physicians.  "  Every  great  family,  as  well  as  every 
city  must  needs,  as  Herodotus  expresses  it,  swarm  with 
the  faculty.  A  multitude  of  these  domestics  would  now  ap- 
pear an  extravagant  piece  of  state  even  in  a  first  minister. 
But  then  we  see  it  could  not  be  otherwise,  where  each  dis- 
temper  had  its   proper  physician. "t     The  medical  men  of 

*  2.  84.  f   Warburton's  Divine  Legation,  Book  IV.  3.  8o. 


EMBALMING  IN  EGYPT.  71 

Egypt  were  renowned  in  ancient  times.  Cyrus  had  a  physi- 
cian sent  him  from  Egypt,*  and  Darius  always  had  Egyptian 
physicians  with  him.t 

2.  That  the  custom  of  embalming  was  very  ancient  in  E- 
gypt,  is  shown  from  the  practice  of  cutting  the  bodies  with 
an  Ethiopian  stone.|  Some  mummies  also  bear  the  date  of 
the  oldest  kings. || 

3.  The  embalming  is  here  performed  by  the  servants  of 
Joseph,  the  physicians.  According  to  the  accounts  of  clas- 
sical authors  on  the  contrary,  the  erabalmers  were  a  heredi- 
tary and  organized  class  of  men  in  Egypt,  in  which  different 
duties  were  assigned  to  different  persons.  According  to  D  i- 
odorus  the  Taricheuta  were  the  most  distinguished  among 
them.§  If  a  proper  distinction  of  time  is  observed,  there  is 
no  contradiction  here.  It  is  entirely  natural  to  suppose  that 
in  the  most  ancient  times  this  operation  was  performed  by 
those  to  whom  each  one  committed  it.  But  afterwards,  when 
the  embalming  was  executed  more  according  to  the  rules  of 
art,  a  distinct  class  of  operators  gradually  arose. 

4.  The  embalming  continued,  according  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  author,  forty  days,  the  whole  mourning  seventy 
days,  in  which  the  forty  days  of  the  embalming  are  evidently 
included.  The  account  of  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s  agrees  in  a  remark- 
able manner  with  this.  With  reference  to  embalming  he 
says,  "  They  prepare  the  body  first  with  cedar  oil  and  vari- 
ous other  substances,  more  than  thirty  (according  to  another 
reading,  forty)  days ;  then,  after  they  have  added  myrrh  and 
cinnamon  and  other  drugs  which  have  not  only  the  power  of 
preserving  the  body  for  a  long  time,  but  of  imparting  to  it  a 

*  Herod.  3.  ].  t  Ibid.  3.  129. 

I  Herod.  2.  86.     Diod.  1.  91.  jj  Rosellini,  11.  3.  p.  306. 

§  Rosenm.  Alterthumsk.  II.  3.  S,  352  fF.  Upon  this  difFerence 
Zoega  remarks,  De  Obeliscis,  p.  263  :  At  that  time  the  college  of  Ta- 
richeuta seems  not  to  have  been  formed,  but  embalming  was  perform- 
ed by  slaves. 


72  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

pleasant  odor,  they  commit  it  to  the  relatives  of  the  deceas- 
ed."* Of  the  mourning  the  same  author  says :  "  When  a 
king  died,  all  the  Egyptians  raised  a  general  lamentation, 
tore  their  garments,  closed  the  temples,  offered  no  sacrifices, 
celebrated  no  festivals,  for  seventy-two  days."f  Herodo- 
t  u  s,|  in  opposition  to  both  these  accounts,  seems  to  limit  the 
time  of  retaining  the  body  in  natron  alone  to  seventy  days. 
But  if  the  passage  referred  to  is  more  closely  examined  it 
shows  that  he  limited  the  whole  time  in  which  the  body  was 
under  the  embalmers  to  seventy  days.  Since  this  time  began 
with  the  death  and  ended  with  the  burial,  while  the  mourn- 
ing began  and  ended  at  the  same  time,  there  is  the  most  per- 
fect agreement  between  this  passage  of  He  rodotus  and 
ours,  which  limits  the  time  of  lamentation  to  seventy  days.|| 

*  1.91.  t  1.  72.  t  2.86. 

11  Herodotus  saj^s  :  ravra  Ss  nonjaavTsgj  zaQiy^tiovoi,  ikqisi,  xqv- 
yjavTSS  ?]jutQag  e^Sour/HOVra-  nXavvag  Ss  xovrtow  ovu  i^sazi  ragi- 
XSV61V.  That  these  seventy  days  of  Herodotus  have  reference  not 
merely  to  the  time  of  retaining  the  body  in  natron,  but  to  tlie  whole 
time  of  the  embalming  and  mourning,  has  been  asserted  by  some  who 
are  by  no  means  guided  by  a  respect  for  the  Mosaic  account,  as  for 
example,  by  Zoega,  De  Obeliscis,  p.  253,  and  by  Heyne,  Spicilegium 
antiquitatis  mumiarum,  in  Commentt.  Getting.  III.  p.  85.  The  time 
is  not  only  too  long  for  retaining  the  body  in  natron,  but  it  is  also  im- 
probable that  Herodotus  would  give  the  time  of  salting  ,which  was  so 
far  from  being  the  prominent  thing  that  Diodorus  does  not  mention 
it  at  all,  and  not  that  of  embalming  and  of  the  whole  operation.  Be- 
sides, seventy,  as  a  round  and  sacred  number,  is  much  more  suitable 
for  the  whole  than  a  single,  proportionally  unimportant  part,  which 
under  the  embalming  in  its  restricted  sense,  of  which  alone  the  Pen- 
tateuch makes  mention,  (the  tain  means  according  to  the  Arabic, bo- 
nis odoribus  condivit  mortuum,  and  consequently  designates  the  ope- 
ration of  which  Diodorus  speaks,)  lield  so  inferior  a  place.  But  Creu- 
zer,  to  whom  Biihr  accedes,  has  attempted  to  prove  that  the  explana- 
tion whicli  is  most  in  accordance  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  words.  "  Ego  si  quacris,"  lie  says  in  Comment,  upon 
Herodotus,  p.  45,  "  vereor  ut  hae  explicationes  conciliari  queunt  cum 
verbis  Herodoti,  qui  quidem  h.  1.  diserte  dicit  vaqixtvovat  liXQoi,  quod 


THE  MOURNING  FOR  JACOB.  73 

5.  The  Egyptians  mourned  for  Jacob  according  to  the 
above  passage,  seventy  days.  In  verse  4  it  is  said :  "And 
when  the  days  of  his  mourning  w^ere  past,"  etc.  In  verses 
10  and  11  :  ''And  they  came  to  the  threshing  floor  of  Atad, 
which  is  beyond  Jordan  and  mourned  there  with  a  great 
and  very  sore  lamentation  ;  and  he  made  a  mourning  for  his 
father  seven  days,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  the  Ca- 
naanites,  saw  the  mourning  in  the  floor  of  Atad  and  said, 
"  This  is  a  grievous  mourning  to  the  Egyptians  ;  wherefore  the 
name  of  it  was  called  Abel  Mizraim  (mourning  of  Egypt)." 
The  classical  writers  also  show  that  the  Egyptians  appointed 
for  themselves  a  very  solemn  mourning  for  the  dead,  espe- 

posterius  vocabulum  cogitando  videtur  repeti  debere  cum  ad  sequens 
yQvipavrsg,  turn  ad  raQiatvetv.,  ita  ut  raQiycsvsiv  h.  1.  proprie  salitionem 
videatur  significare.''  According  to  Creuzer  therefore  we  must  trans- 
late :  "When  this  is  done,  they  lay  it  in  natron  and  leave  it  therein 
70  days,  but  they  are  not  allowed  to  salt  it  longer."  But  this  inter- 
pretation is  not  admissible,  much  less  then  necessary.  With 
yQvipavTsg,  Iitqm  cannot  be  implied,  for  the  dead  body  was  not  put 
into  the  natron,  but  that  was  applied  to  it.  TaQinsvStv  without  Iitqoj 
can  the  more  appropriately  be  taken  in  a  general  sense,  since  it  is 
always  so  used  in  what  precedes  and  follows.  Compare  c.  85  : 
ovTOj  ig  xriv  xaQiykvoiv  nof^ilovat.,  c.  86 :  ojSs  rd  GTrovdaiorara  xaqi- 
XevovGi,  c.  89 :  rag  da  ywatnag  tojv  iTii(favio)v  avSgajv,  intdv  tsIsv- 
Tt/GOJGij  ov  TtaQavTina  dtdovGt  xaQixsvtiVj — ovro)  nagaStSovGL  toTg  za- 
^i%EvovGi.  Compare  upon  the  meaning  of  xaqt%svuv,  primarily  to 
salt  and  then  to  embalm  in  general,  Creuzer  p.  10  seq.  ;  Heyne  p. 
81.  We  must  translate:  "  When  this  is  done,  they  embalm  it  in 
natron,  having  concealed  it  (in  all)  70  days  ;  but  it  is  not  permitted  to 
embalm  it  longer."  The  expression  "having  concealed  it  70  days" 
refers  to  the  whole  time  in  which  the  dead  body  was  removed  from 
the  view  of  the  relatives,  and  was  under  the  operation  of  the  em- 
balmers.  The  phrase  "They  are  not  allowed  to  embalm  it  longer"  is 
explained  by  the  remark,  that  to  the  taqiYfivGig  the  treatment  with 
natron  also  belonged,  which  began  after  the  embalming  in  its  more 
limited  sense  was  at  an  end,  and  continued  until  the  burial,  or  to  the 
end  of  the  mourning. 

7 


74  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

cially  for  those  of  high  rank.  Herodotus*  says  :  "  Lam- 
entations and  funerals  were  celebrated.  When  a  man  died  in 
a  house,  that  is,  ojie  of  rank,  all  the  females  of  his  family 
covering  their  faces  with  mud,  and  leaving  the  body  in  the 
house  ran  through  the  streets,  girded  up,  and  striking  their 
bare  breasts  and  uttering  loud  lamentations.  All  their  female 
relations  joined  them.  The  men  beat  their  breasts  in  like 
manner  and  also  girded  up  their  dress."  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  st  says  : 
If  any  one  dies  among  them,  all  his  relatives  and  friends 
cover  their  heads  with  mud  and  go  about  the  streets  with 
loud  lamentations,  until  the  body  is  buried.  In  the  meantime 
they  neither  use  baths  nor  even  take  wine,  or  any  other 
than  common  food ;  they  also  do  not  put  on  beautiful  gar- 
ments." The  same  author  gives  an  account  of  the  lamen- 
tation of  the  Egyptians  on  the  death  of  a  king.  Men  and 
women  to  the  number  of  200  or  300  went  around  in  companies, 
sung  twice  every  day  the  funeral  dirge,  honored  him  with 
eulogies,  and  repeated  the  virtues  of  the  dead.  In  the  mean- 
time they  neither  tasted  meat  or  wheaten  bread,  and  abstained 
from  wine  and  every  species  of  sumptuousness.  No  one 
used  the  bath  or  ointments  or  a  soft  bed,  but  every  one  was  full 
of  the  deepest  sorrow,  as  if  a  beloved  child  had  died,  and 
spent  the  prescribed  time  in  sorrow.  Meanwhile  everything 
which  pertained  to  the  burial  was  made  ready,  and  on  the 
last  day  they  placed  the  coffin  which  contained  the  body 
before  the  entrance  of  the  tomb,"  etcf  The  monuments^ 
also  show  how  violent  and  solemn  the  lamentation  was  among 
the  Egyptians.  Many  of  the  ceremonies  of  mourning  have 
been  transmitted  even  to  the  modern  Egyptians. || 

In  chap.  50:  4,   we  read:    "And  when  the  days  of  his 

*B.  2.  c.8.5.  fB.  I.e.  91. 

§  See  the  Representation  of  a  mourning  scene,  from  Thebes,  in  Wil- 
kinson Vol.  I.  p.  286.  X  Diod.  B.  1.  c.  72. 

II  Heyne  p.  81,  and  De  Chabrol,  Essai  s.  les  moeurs  des  habitans 
modernes  de  I'Egypt.     Descr.  t.  18.  p.  180. 


FUNERAL    PROCESSIONS.  75 

mourning  (the  mourning  for  Israel)  were  past,  Joseph  spake 
unto  the  house  of  Pharaoh,  saying,  "  If  now  I  have  found 
grace  in  your  eyes,  speak,  I  pray  you,  in  the  ears  of  Pharaoh," 
etc.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  Joseph  makes  not  his 
request  directly  to  the  king,  but  has  recourse  to  the  house  of 
Pharaoh,  while  at  other  times  he  goes  directly  to  Pharaoh  ; 
and  even  his  brothers  and  his  father  were  brought  before 
Pharaoh,  so  that  the  fact  cannot  be  explained  on  the  ground 
of  the  hatred  of  the  Egyptians  to  strangers.  The  correct 
explanation  is  as  follows  :  It  belongs  to  the  Egyptian  sense  of 
propriety  to  go  with  shorn  head  and  beard,  and  only  so  is  it 
allowed  to  appear  before  the  king.  Compare  chap.  41 :  14, 
where  Joseph  shaved  himself  and  changed  his  garments 
before  he  went  to  Pharaoh,  and  the  remarks  upon  that  passage 
above.*  But  while  mourning  they  were  not  permitted  to 
shave.  Herodotust  says  :  "Among  other  nations  it  is  the 
custom  in  mourning  for  the  relatives  to  shear  the  head,  but 
the  Egyptians,  when  an  individual  dies,  leave  the  hair  which 
was  before  cut  off,  to  grow  both  upon  the  head  and  chin." 
Such  peculiar  customs  are  especially  suited  to  fix  the  opinion 
with  regard  to  the  relation  of  the  Pentateuch  to  Egypt. 

In  chap.  50:  7  and  8  it  is  said:  "And  Joseph  went  up  to 
bring  his  father ;  and  with  him  went  up  all  the  servants  of 
Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  the  house,  and  all  the  elders  of  the 
land  of  Egypt.  And  all  the  house  of  Joseph  and  his  breth- 
ren," etc.  "The  custom  of  funeral  trains,"  says  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,|: 
"was  peculiar  to  all  periods,  and  to  all  the  provinces  of  Egypt. 
We  see  the  representations  of  funeral  processions  in  the  oldest 
tombs  at  Eilethyas,  and  similar  ones  are  delineated  in  those 
of  Saqqarah  and  Gizeh  ;  we  also  find  others  of  a  like  nature 
in  the  Theban  tombs,  which  belong  to  the  eighteenth,  nine- 
teenth and  twentieth  dynasties,"  When  we  behold  the 
representations   of  the   processions  for  the  dead   upon  the 

*p.  30.  fB.  2.  c.  36.  UI.  3.  p.  395. 


76  EGYPT  Ax\D  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

monuments,  we  seem  to  see  the  funeral  train  of  Jacob.* 
The  distinction  between  the  elders  of  the  house  of  Pha- 
raoh, his  court-officers,  and  the  elders  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
the  state-officers,  is  also  worthy  of  notice.  According  to 
other  accounts  the  court  of  the  Egyptian  king  was  made  up 
of  the  sons  of  the  most  distinguished  priests;  those  called 
Nomarchs  and  Toparchs  by  the  Greeks  belonged  to  the  state- 
officers.t 

In  chap.  50:  26  it  is  said,  "And  Joseph  died, — and  they 
embalmed  him,  and  he  was  put  in  a  coffin  in  Egypt."  Com- 
pare with  this  what  Herodotus|  says  :  "  Now  the  rela- 
tives take  away  the  body  and  make  a  wooden  image  in  the 
shape  of  a  man  and  place  the  body  in  it.  AVhen  it  is  thus 
inclosed,  they  placed  it  in  the  apartment  for  the  dead,  setting 
it  upright  against  the  wall."  A  doubt  with  regard  to  the  Egyp- 
tian knowledge  of  the  author  might  be  awakened  by  the  fact 
that  he  permits  Joseph  to  be  placed  in  a  wooden  sarcopha- 
gus,§  while  one  of  stone  would  be  expected.  But  a  closer 
examination  shows  that  this  expression  is  directly  in  favor  of 
the  credibility  of  the  pentateuch  ;  coffins  made  of  wood 
in  Egypt,  as  indeed  the  passage  already  quoted  from  Herod- 
otus shows,  were  the  common  ones,  and  those  of  basalt  a 
rare  exception  ;||   and  in  the  case  of  Joseph,  his  order  that 

*  See  in  Taylor,  p.  182.  t  Heeren,  Ideen  S.  337  ff. 

tB.2.86. 

§  The  Fiebrew  word  I'i-ist  designates  such  a  one.  Plutarch  employs 
the  entirely  synonymous  word  laQva^  the  same  thing  to  designate. 
See  Zoega  de  Obeliscis  p.  330. 

II  "Sarcophagi,"  says  Heyne  p.  86,"ebasalte  rarissimietditissimorum 
fere ;  plerique  e  sycamoro,  (compare  upon  the  Sycamore  wood  as  the 
common  material  of  coffins  for  the  dead,  Creuzer  Comm.,  Herod,  p  61,) 
ad  formam  corporis  facti,  ex  uno  caudice  dianidiato,  ut  altera  pars  pro 
capuli  fundo,  altera  pro  tegumine  sit;  alii  e  pluribus  asseribus  coas- 
sati."  Compare  upon  the  quality  of  coffins  for  the  dead,  Rosellini  11. 
3.  p.  344.  But  the  most  copious  collections  upon  wood  as  the  very 
common  material  of  the  Egpytian  sarcophagi  are  found  in  Zoega,  p. 


CHANGE  IN  THE  EGYPTIAN  PEOPLE.  77 

the  children  of  Israel  should  at  a  future  time  carry  his  bones 
with  them  to  Canaan,  furnishes  a  separate  reason  for  giving 
the  preference  to  wood  rather  than  stone.  Besides  the  custom 
of  putting  the  dead  in  sarcophagi  was  by  no  means  a  general 
one,  only  rich  and  distinguished  persons  received  this  honor. 
Compare  Heyne*  and  notice  that  the  Egyptian  knowledge 
of  the  author  appears  here,  since  he  permits  Joseph  to  be  a 
sharer  in  this  honor  that  belongs  to  those  who  are  highly 
esteemed. 

At  the  close  of  this  chapter,  we  would  also  call  attention 
to  the  wonderful  change  in  the  spirit  of  the  Egyptian  people, 
which  appears  in  the  narrative  of  the  Pentateuch.  Abraham 
found  an  easy  entrance  into  Egypt  and  a  friendly  reception, 
and  no  distinction  between  him  and  the  Egyptians  is  mani- 
fested. In  the  time  of  Joseph  the  spirit  of  the  Egyptian 
people  had  acquired  a  more  decided  character  ;  already  are 

317 ;  latissime  autem  patere  videmus  consuetudinem  mortuos  inclu- 
dere  in  areas  oblongas  cadaveris  staturae  accommodatas,  et  sic  sub 
terramcondere,  aut  in  sepulcro  reponere  super  solo  exstructo,  aut  vero 
basi  suiFultas  collocare  sub  divo.  Ligni  ad  hoc  usus  frequentissimus  ; 
eoque  Aegyptii  ut  plurimum  contenti  fuisse  videntur,  dum  et  syco- 
morus  arbor,  ejus  regionis  incola,  materiem  praeberet  diuturnae 
durationis,  et  loca  ubi  condere  solebant  cadavera  ab  aere  atque  humore 
ita  essent  praeclusa,  ut  quodvis  lignum  in  iis  perdurare  potuisse 
videatur.  Ideoque  non  alias  quam  ligneas  areas  commemorat  Herod- 
otus. The  same  author  says,  p.  333  :  Intelligimus  et  hinc  in  magno 
honore  apud  Aegyptios  fuisse  areas  ligneas  cum  arte  faetas  et  pulcre 
exornatas  dum  ipsum  Osiridem  hujusmodi  conditorio  delusum  et 
captum  inque  eo  sepultum  traderent ;  quare  et  regum  cadavera  ligneo 
loculo  intra  lapideum  inclusa  fuisse  conjicio.  The  coffin  of  king 
Mycerinus  discovered  in  the  year  1837  in  the  third  pyramid  of  Mem- 
phis is  of  sycamore  wood.  Compare  Lenormant,  Eclaireissemens  s.  le 
Cercuil  du  Roi  Mycerinus,  p.  4,  Paris  1839. 

*  De  sareophago  olim  ita  tradi  solebat  acsi  omne  mumiae  sareophago 
conditae  essent ;  atqui  paucissimae  ei  inelusae  sunt  nee  nisi  in  quas 
major  impensa  facta.  Compare  Maillet  in  Rosenm,  A.  u.  N.  M.  Th. 
I.  S.  257. 


78  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

« 

the  shepherds  an  abomination,  and  Joseph  must  be  freed 
from  the  ignominy  of  his  origin  by  an  alliance  with  the 
daughter  of  a  priest  of  the  highest  rank.  But  still  that  such 
an  alliance  is  possible  shows  that  the  repulsive  severity  of  the 
Egyptians  against  strangers  had  not  yet  reached  its  greatest 
height.  The  manner  in  which  Pharaoh  answers  the  request 
of  Joseph  for  the  admission  of  his  family  into  Egypt  proves 
the  same  thing.  But  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  Exodus 
we  see  the  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  Egyptians  against  all 
foreigners,  and  their  strong  national  egotism,  which  is  so  con- 
spicuous in  the  circumstance  that  the  term  man  is  used  exclu- 
sively for  their  people,  designating  them  as  of  the  highest 
rank.*  Every  one  must  confess  that  this  gradual  develop- 
ment is  perfectly  in  accordance  with  nature,  and  that  the 
representation  of  the  Pentateuch  carries  with  it  the  proof  of 
its  authenticity  and  credibility. 

"  Salvolini  Campagne  de  Rhamses,  Paris  1835,  p.  261. 


THE  ARABS  IN   EGYPT.  79 


CHAPTER    11. 

EXODUS,   Chapters  I— VII. 
The  Fears  of  Pharaoh  and  his  Severity  to  the  Israelites. 

In  chap.  1 :  10,  Pharaoh  says  to  his  people  :  "  Come  on, 
let  us  deal  wisely  with  them,  (the  people  of  the  children  of 
Israel,)  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to  pass  that  when  there 
falleth  out  any  war,  they  join  also  unto  our  enemies,  and  fight 
against  us,  and  so  get  them  up  out  of  the  land."  These 
words  are  spoken  perfectly  in  accordance  with  the  state  of 
things  in  Egypt.  Fruitful  and  cultivated  Egypt  has  for  its 
natural  enemies  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  deserts, 
and  it  is  never  in  greater  peril  than  when  these  enemies  find 
allies  among  its  own  inhabitants.  The  history  of  the  Arabian 
Bedouins  in  Egypt  shows  how  very  confident  the  Egyptian 
king  might  be  that  he  had  ground  for  his  fears,  and  that  he 
must  make  regulations  in  accordance  with  them.  Of  these 
Bedouins  P  r  o  k  e  s  c  h*  says  :  "  They  made  common  cause 
with  the  Arabs  against  the  communities  who  possessed  the 
land,  and  who  were  the  enemies  of  the  Arabs  as  soon  as  the 
latter  became  themselves  land-tillers.  They  fought  against  the 
Saracen  dynasty  in  Egypt,  against  the  Turkomans  as  soon 
as  they  had  acquired  the  ascendancy,  against  the  Memlook 
Sultans  who  were  the  successors  of  the  Turkomans,  and  they 
have  been  at  war  with  the  Osmanlies  without  intermission, 
since  they  first  set  foot  upon  Egypt  more  than  three  hundred 
years  ago." 

The  measures  which  Pharaoh  adopted  for  the  oppression 
of  the  Israelites  are  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 


Erinnerungen  aus  Aeg.  und  Kleinas.  Th.  2.  S.  231. 


80  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  Pharaohs,  whose  proud  severity  against  hated  and  de- 
spised foreigners  knew  no  bounds.  According  to  D  i  o  d  o- 
r  u  s,*  Sesostris  placed  upon  all  his  buildings  erected  by 
captives  an  inscription  showing,  that  no  native  citizens  had 
been  engaged  in  this  servile  employment.  According  to 
P I  i  n  y,t  Sesostris  harnessed  captive  kings  to  his  chariot.| 
Upon  the  sculptures,  in  the  temple  at  Medeenet  Haboo,  repre- 
senting the  triumphal  return  of  Remeses  III,  after  his  con- 
quests in  the  Eastern  war,  three  captives  appear  tied  under 
the  axle  of  his  chariot,  while  others  bound  by  ropes  walk  by 
the  side  of  his  horses  as  an  offering  to  the  deity  of  the  place.§ 
According  to  chap.  1:  14,  Pharaoh  embittered  the  life  of 
the  Israelites  with  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and  brick.  We 
see  from  chap.  5:  7,||  that  straw  was  used  in  the  preparation 
of  these  bricks.  I.  We  have  already  shown  that  the  use  of 
brick  was  very  general  in  Egypt,  as  is  here  implied.^  2. 
Bricks  were  made  in  Egypt  under  the  direction  of  the  king  or 
some  privileged  person  as  appears  from  the  impressions  found 
upon  many  of  them.**  A  great  multitude  of  strangers  were 
constantly  employed  in  the  brick  fields  of  Thebes  and  other 
parts  of  Egypt.  2.  But  the  most  remarkable  agreement  with 
the  Pentateuch  is  in  the  fact,  that  a  small  portion  of  chopped 
straw  is  found  in  the  composition  of  the  Egyptian   bricks. 

*1.56.  133.  15. 

I  Sesostri  Aegypti  rege  tarn  superbo,  ut  prodatur  annis  quibusque 
sorte  reges  singulos  e  subjectis  jungere  ad  currum  solitus,  atque  ita 
triumphare.     Diodorus  also  relates  the  same  thing,  1.  58. 

§  Wilkinson  1.  p.  106  and  plate. 

II  Luther  has  incorrectly  translated  in  chap.  5:  7  :  That  they  might 
burn  brick,  from  which  the  false  opinion  might  easily  arise  that  the 
straw  served  as  fuel.  It  should  be  :  Ye  shall  no  more  give  the  people 
straw  to  make  brick  with,  etc. 

If  See  p.  1— Also  concerning  the  use  of  brick  in  Egypt,  Quatremcre 
de  Quincy,  etat  de  I'Architect,  Egypt,  p.  64.  seq. 
**  Wilkinson  n.  97. 


HEBREWS  MAKING  BRICK.  81 

This  is  evident  from  an  examination  of  those  brought  by 
R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  from  Thebes  on  which  is  the  stamp  of  Thothmes 
IV.,  the  fifth  king  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty.*  "  The  bricks," 
remarks  Rosellini,t  "which  are  now  found  in  Egypt, 
belonging  to  the  same  period,  always  have  straw  mingled  with 
them,  although  in  some  of  those  that  are  most  carefully  made, 
it  is  found  in  very  small  quantities."  According  to  Rosel- 
1  i  n  i,  straw  was  used  in  order  that  the  bricks,  (they  were  not 
for  the  most  part  burned,  but  dried  in  the  sun,)  might  be 
more  firm,  especially  those  of  coarse  clay  and  more  roughly 
formed.  P  r  o  k  e  s  c  h|  says,  "  The  bricks  (of  the  first  pyramid 
at  Dashoor)  are  of  fine  clay  from  the  Nile  mingled  with 
chopped  straw.  This  intermixture  gives  the  bricks  an  aston- 
ishing durability."  The  inquirer  will  not  leave  unnoticed 
such  little  and  entirely  undesigned  circumstances  as  these. 

We  are  carried  much  farther  by  the  comparison  of  our 
history  with  a  picture  discovered  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes,  of 
which  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i§  first  furnished  a  drawing  and  an  expla- 
nation :  "  Explanation  of  a  picture  representing  the  Hebrews 
as  they  were  engaged  in  making  brick."  We  will  first  give 
an  abstract  of  the  account  of  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i.  ''Of  the  laborers," 
says  he,  ''some  are  employed  in  transporting  the  clay  in 
vessels,  some  in  intermingling  it  with  the  straw,  others  are 
taking  the  bricks  out  of  the  form  and  placing  them  in  rows, 
still  others  with  a  piece  of  wood  upon  their  backs  and  ropes 
on  each  side  carry  away  the  bricks  already  burned  or  dried. 
Their  dissimilarity  to  the  Egyptians  appears  at  the  first  view ; 
the  complexion,  physiognomy  and  beard  permit  us  not  to  be 
mistaken  in  supposing  them  to  be  Hebrews.  They  wear  at 
the  hips  the  apron  which  is  common  among  the  Egyptians, 
and  there  is  also  represented  as  in  use  among  them  a  kind  of 
short  trowsers  after  the  fashion  of  the  t]'^p;p7q .  Among  the 
Hebrews,  four  Egyptians,  very  distinguishable  by  their  mien, 

*Ros.  II.  2.  p.  252.  t  II.  2.  p.  259. 

t  In  der  Erinn.    Th.  2.  S.  31.  §  II.  2.  p.  254  seq. 


82  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

figure  and  color,  are  seen ;  two  of  them,  one  sitting  and  the 
other  standing,  carry  a  stick  in  their  hand  ready  to  fall  upon  two 
other  Egyptians,  who  are  here  represented  like  the  Hebrews, 
one  of  them  carrying  on  his  shoulder  a  vessel  of  clay,  and  the 
other  returning  from  the  transportation  of  brick,  carrying  his 
empty  vessel  to  get  a  new  load.  The  tomb  belonged  to  a 
high  court-officer  of  the  king,  Rochscere,  and  was  made  in 
the  time  of  Thothmes  IV,  the  fifth  king  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty.  The  question,  "How  came  this  picture  in  the  tomb 
of  Rochscere  ?"  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  answers  as  follows  :  "  He  was 
the  overseer  of  the  public  buildings  and  had,  consequently,  the 
charge  of  all  the  works  undertaken  by  the  king.  There 
are  found  represented  therein  still  other  objects  of  a  like 
nature;  two  collossal  statues  of  kings,  a  sphinx  and  the' 
laborers  who  hewed  the  stone, — works  which  he  by  virtue  of 
his  office  had  caused  to  be  performed  in  his  life-time. 

To  the  question,  "How  came  the  representation  of  the 
labors  of  the  Israelites  at  Thebes  ?"  it  is  answered:  "We 
need  not  suppose  that  the  labors  were  performed  in  the  very 
place  where  they  are  represented,  for  Rochscere  was  overseer 
of  the  royal  buildings  throughout  the  land,  and  what  was 
done  in  the  circuit  of  his  operations,  could,  wherever  per- 
formed, be  represented  in  his  tomb  at  Thebes.  It  is 
also  not  impossible  that  the  Hebrews  went  even  to  Thebes. 
In  Exodus  5:  12,  it  is  said,  that  they  scattered  themselves 
through  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  in  order  to  procure  straw. 

So  far  R  OS  ell  in  i.  The  agreement  of  this  painting 
with  our  account  in  many  very  striking  points,  appears  at 
first  view.     We,   consequently,  select  from  them  only  two. 

1.  It  is  said  in  the  narrative,  the  Israelites  were  subjected 
to  severe  labor  in  mortar  and  brick.  Just  so  this  servile 
labor  appears  throughout  the  painting  as  twofold,  some  are 
employed  upon  the  clay  from  which  the  bricks  were  made,  and 
some  upon  the  finished  brick.  2.  We  have  in  this  painting 
an  explanation  with  regard  to  the  Egyptians  who  accompa- 


EGYPTIANS  OF  LOW  CASTE.  83 

nied  the  Israelites  in  their  Exodus.  Of  these  Egyptians  we 
read,  first,  in  Exod.  12:  38,  "And  also  a  great  rabble  (i'n  l"^.i?) 
went  up  with  them."  In  Num.  11:  4,  "  The  mixed  Egyptian 
populace  (iqDQDi^n)  led  astray  the  Israelites  in  the  desert  to 
discontentment."  In  Deut.  29,  10(11) — let  it  be  observed 
how  accurately  these  remote  and  disconnected  passages  agree 
with  each  other — the  Egyptian  aliens  appear  as  very  poor,  as 
the  lowest  servants,  as  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water. 
The  designations  rabble  and  populace  in  the  first  passages, 
also  show,  that  these  attendants  of  the  Israelites  belonged  to 
the  lowest  grades  of  society.  Just  such  people  we  should 
naturally  expect  to  find  in  Egypt.  Their  existence  is  the 
necessary  consequence  of  strongly  marked  castes  in  society. 
The  monuments  indeed  place  vividly  before  us  most  manifest 
distinctions  in  station.  A  part  of  the  people  appear  to  be  in 
the  deep  degradation  which  now  presses  upon  the  Fellahs.* 
According  to  Herodotust  the  caste  of  swine-herds,  a 
native  tribe,  was  unclean  and  despised  in  Egypt.  All  inter- 
course with  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants,  even  entrance  into  a 
temple,  was  forbidden,  and  they  were  as  much  despised  as 
the  Parias  in  India. "|  The  contempt  in  which  they  were 
held  was  not  certainly  the  consequence  of  their  occupation, 
but  their  occupation  of  the  disdain  which  was  felt  for  them. 
Already  unclean,  they  had  no  reason  for  avoiding  the  care 
of  unclean  animals.  But  full  light  first  falls  upon  these 
notices  of  the  Pentateuch  through  our  painting.  We  see 
upon  it  Egyptians  who  are  placed  entirely  on  an  equality  with 
the  hated  and  despised  foreigners.  What  is  more  natural 
than  that  a  considerable  part  of  these  Egyptians,  bound  close 
to  their  companions  in  sorrow  by  their  common  misery, 
should  leave  with  them  their  native  land,  such  now  to  them 
only  in  name.]]. 

*Wilk.  Vol.  I.p.285.  tB.2.  c.  47.  ±  Heeren,  S.  150. 

II  Compare  upon  the  bondmen  of  Egypt,  who  like  the  Helots  in 
Sparta,  were  in  ignominious  servitude,  Bockh,  Erklarung  Einer  Aeg. 
Urkunde  S.  27,  28. 


84  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

He  who  has  carefully  examined  the  engraving  in  R  osel- 
lini,  the  great  importance  of  which  has  been  acknowledged 
by  such  historians  as  Heeren,*  perceiving  its  striking 
accordance  with  the  Pentateuch,  will  ask  first  of  all,  whether 
then  this  picture  is  really  genuine,  whether  it  is  not  probably  a 
supposititious  work,  prepared  after  the  Pentateuch  was  written. 
This  question,  almost  sufficiently  answered  by  the  condition 
of  the  painting  itself,  is,  by  the  judicious  Wilkinson,  who 
made  a  new  examination  on  the  spot,  decided  entirely  in 
favor  of  the  picture.  This  decision  is  the  more  to  be  relied  ori, 
since  Wilkinson,!  while  he  questions  whether  the  painting 
has  direct  reference  to  the  labors  of  the  Israelites,  does  not 
deny  the  significance  of  it  for  the  Pentateuch.  But  the 
arguments  with  which  he  contends  against  its  referring  to" 
Israelites,  are  of  so  little  importance,  that  we  can  scarcely 
avoid  thinking  that  he  is  influenced  by  something  foreign  from 
the  thing  itself;  and  they  are  decidedly  outweighed  by  the 
evident  Jewish  bearing  and  cast  of  physiognomy,  which  can 
be  traced  even  in  the  common  wood  cuts  such  as  are  found 
in  Taylor.|     Wilkinson,  first,  makes  the  place  where  the 

*  He  says,  Gott.  Anz.  1835,  S.  1328  :  If  this  painting  represents  the 
servitude  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  these  labors,  it  is  equally  impor- 
tant for  exegesis  and  chronology.  For  exegesis,  because  it  would  be 
a  strong  proof  of  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Mosaic  writings,  and 
especially  of  the  book  of  Exodus  which  in  chapters  one  and  five 
gives  a  description  that  applies  most  accurately  to  this  painting,  even 
in  unimportant  particulars.  For  chronology,  since  it  belongs  to  the 
eighteenth  dynasty,  under  the  dominion  of  Thothmes-Moeris,  about 
1740  before  Christ,  and  therefore  would  give  a  fixed  point  both  for 
profane  and  sacred  History. 

t  Vol.  II.  p.  98  seq  :  "  It  is  curious,"  he  remarks,  "  to  discover  other 
foreign  captives  occupied  in  the  same  manner,  overlooked  by  similar 
'  task-masters,'  and  performing  the  very  same  labors  as  the  Israelites 
described  in  the  Bible  ;  and  no  one  can  look  at  the  paintings  of  Thebes, 
representing  brick-makers,  without  a  feeling  of  the  highest  interest." 

I  p.  7D. 


JEWISH    PHYSIOGNOMY.  85 

painting  is  found,  a  matter  of  importance.  That  it  cannot 
represent  work  done  in  another  part  of  Egypt,  the  hiero- 
glyphic inscription  shows.  According  to  this,  the  bricks  are 
made  for  a  building  in  Thebes.  But  at  least  as  given  by 
R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,*  the  inscription  does  not  so  definitely  affirm 
this;  and  even  if  it  did,  what  valid  objection  is  there  to  the 
assumption  that  the  Israelites  were  carried  even  as  far  as 
Thebes  for  the  sake  of  their  work  ?  That  Egypt  in  all 
times,  even  the  most  ancient,  formed  one  kingdom,  is  now, 
since  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  this  respect  has 
received  so  strong  a  confirmation  from  the  monuments, 
generally  acknovvledged.t  It  was  for  the  interest  of  the 
oppressor  to  scatter  the  Israelites  as  much  as  possible  through 
his  whole  land.  Even  now,  the  Fellahs  are  often  collected 
in  troops  from  the  most  remote  provinces  in  Egypt,  when 
any  great  work  is  to  be  executed.  Secondly,  the  beard  is 
wanting,  which  is  so  marked  in  the  people  of  Syria  on  the 
Egyptian  monuments  and  in  the  case  of  the  prisoners  of 
Sheshonk.  But  in  one  individual  the  beard  is  certainly 
represented,  and  if  it  is  wanting  in  the  case  of  the  others,  it  is 
easy  to  account  for  it  by  supposing  that  they  were  compelled  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  Egyptian  customs. |  There  is  a 
plain  difference  between  the  Israelites  and  those  just  made 
captives,  who  naturally  appear  upon  the  monuments  in  the 
costume  of  their  own  nation.     Thirdly,  the  argument  from 

''11.  p.  262.  Comraendamento,  che  rechino— i  mattoni  ?  verso  le 
construzioni  della  divina  casa  [del  tempio]  del — Dio. 

t  Compare  Plath,  Quaestiones  Aegypt.  Gott.  1829,  Rosellini,  Wil- 
kinson and  others. 

X  Even  Wilkinson,  Vol.  III.  p.  358,  says  :  "Although  foreigners 
who  were  brought  to  Egypt  as  slaves,  had  beards  on  their  arrival  in 
the  country,  we  find  that  as  soon  as  they  were  employed  in  the 
service  of  this  civilized  people,  they  were  obliged  to  conform  to  the 
cleanly  habits  of  their  masters  ;  their  beards  and  heads  were  shaved,' 
etc. 

8 


86  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Jewish  physiognomy  is  not  decisive ;  for  the  Egyptians,  who 
generally  did  not  give  the  same  attention  to  the  countenance 
as  to  costume,  weapons,  etc.,  but  rather,  for  the  most 
part,  employed  a  certain  general  style  of  features,  for 
the  inhabitants  of  a  particular  region,*  have  adopted  the 
same  characteristics  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  Syria,  as 
appears  from  the  sculptures.  Assuming  the  correctness  of 
this  position,  which  seems  to  us  very  doubtful,  would  the 
Egyptians,  since  the  Jewish  cast  of  physiognomy  throughout 
can  by  no  means  be  denied,  have  borrowed  the  type  for  the 
Syrians  generally,  from  the  Jews  1  This  at  least  is  certain,  that 
a  people  from  the  region  in  which  the  Israelites  dwelt  were 
found  in  Egypt  in  the  circumstances  represented  in  the  paint- 
ing, and  by  a  comparison  of  the  picture  with  the  account  of 
Moses,  we  should  be  perfectly  justified  in  the  assumption  that 
these  persons  were  real  Israelites. 

It  is  also  characteristic  of  Egypt,  when  in  this  same  four- 
teenth verse,  it  is  said  that  the  life  of  the  Israelites  was  also 
embittered  "through  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field." 
There  is  scarcely  a  country  in  which  the  cultivation  of  the 
land  requires  so  much  peculiarly  servile  labor  as  in  Egypt. 
Irrigation  especially,  is  here  very  laborious.! 


Use  of  the  Papyrus  and  Bitumen  in  Egypt. 

According  to  chap.  2:  3,  the  mother  of  Moses  taking  a 
chest  o^  papyrus  smears  it  with  bitumen  and  pitch,  lays  the 
child  in  it  and  puts  it  down  among  the  reeds  on  the  shore  of 
the  Nile.  That  the  author  names  the  papyrus  as  the  material 
of  the  chest,  is  a  strong  argument  in  his  favor.  In  Egypt,  and 
there  only,  was  the  papyrus  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
many   articles  of  use.     Mats,   baskets,  sandals  and  various 

*  Wilkinson  I.  p.  386. 

t  See  the  more  recent  Commentators  on  Deut.  11:  10. 


PAPYRUS  AND  BITUMEN.  87 

Other  things  were  made  of  it.*  Even  boats  were  constructed 
of  it.t  The  use  of  the  papyrus  belongs  to  the  earliest  times. 
Even  in  the  most  ancient  sculptures  it  is  found  with  writing 
upon  it.j:  Bitumen  was  one  of  the  principal  ingredients  in 
embalming  in  Egypt.§  In  a  passage  in  the  Travels  of 
Min  Qtol  i,||  giving  a  description  of  the  "  analysis  of  the 
resinous  composition  of  a  black  shining  finger  from  the  body 
of  a  mummy"  by  John,  it  is  said  :  ''  The  resinous  mass  is  com- 
posed of  the  pitch-wood  mentioned  in  a  preceding  note,  and 
of  a  kind  of  bitumen  which  the  Egyptians  might  have 
obtained  from  the  Dead  Sea,  Babylon,  Susa  or  even  from 
Phoenicia,  or  at  least  of  an  entirely  analogous  substance." 
John  also  found  bituminous  substances  in  the  embalming 
materials  in  connexion  with  a  child-mummy.^  According  to 
Rosellini,**  there  have  been  found  in  the  tomb  of Usirei, 
or  Menephthahtt  many  small  statues  of  wood  in  the  form  of 
a  mummy,  covered  with  a  stratum  of  bitumen.ift  That  pitch 
was  known  at  this  time  in  Egypt,  we  cannot  doubt,  since  it 
is  found  in  objects  which  belong  to  the  oldest  times. 


The  Daughter  of  Pharaoh  Jinds  the  Child,  Moses. 

According  to  chap.  2:  5,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  finds 
the  child,  Moses,  as,  accompanied  by  her  maidens,  she  goes 
to  bathe  in  the  Nile.  That  the  women  in  Egypt  were  far  less 
restrained  than  in  the  rest  of  the  East,  as  this  fact  implies, 
we  have  already  shown. 1|||  That  the  king's  daughter  went 
to  the  Nile  to  bathe  is  explained  by  the  Egyptian  notion  of  the 

*  Wilkinson,  Vol.  III.  pp.  62,  146. 

t  Herod.  2.  96.  Plut.  de  Is.  etOsir.  p.  395  ;  according  to  which  Isis 
is  borne  upon  a  boat  of  papyrus.  Wilk.  Vol.  III.  p.  61.  Ros.  II.  3. 
p.  124. 

X  Wilk.  III.  150.  §  Diod.  19.  chap.  99.  ||  S.  373. 

TI  S.  344.  ^*  Vol.  L  1.  p.  249. 

ttRos.  II.  3.  p.350seq.     H  Wilk.  Vol.  III.  p.  186.      |1||  p.  26. 


88  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

sacredness  of  the  Nile.  Of  this  we  shall  speak  in  a  subsequent 
part  of  this  volume.  A  representation  of  an  Egyptian  bathing 
scene — a  lady  with  four  female  servants  who  attend  upon  her 
and  perform  various  offices,  is  found  in  Wil  kin  son.* 


The  Israelites  directed  to  harrow  of  the  Egyptians 
OrnamentSy  etc. 

In  chap.  3:  22,  and  the  parallel  passage  where  the  Israel- 
itish  women  are  directed  to  borrow  of  their  Egyptian  neigh- 
bors gold  and  silver  ornaments,  it  is  implied  that  such 
ornaments  were  even  then  in  very  general  use  among  the 
Egyptians.  Tliis  has  been  fully  confirmed  by  late  discoveries. 
On  the  monuments,  remarks  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,t  vases  of  costly 
metals  are  found,  not  merely  in  the  representations  of  reli- 
gious ceremonies  and  the  offerings  of  kings  to  the  gods,  but 
also  among  the  objects  of  household  use.  Very  many  such 
things  are  found  in  the  tombs  of  mere  private  individuals. 
Therefore  it  is  clear,  that  not  the  great  only,  but  all  who 
possessed  any  wealth  had  such  articles  among  their  house- 
hold furniture. I 

Moses'  Rod. 

According  to  chap.  4:  2,  Moses  carries  a  rod,  and  this  we 
find  to  be  afterwards  his  inseparable  companion.  That  he 
follows  an  Egyptian  custom  in  this,  is  evident  from  chap. 
7:  12,  where  each  of  the  magicians  carries  his  rod.  Accord- 
ing to  the  monuments,  the  Egyptian  nobles  generally  car- 
ried a  stick  from  three  to  six  feet  long  when  they  went  out. 
One  of  them,  preserved  to  our  time,  is  of  cherry-wood  ;  but 
they  generally  preferred,   as  it  appears,  the  acacia  wood.§ 

*  Vol.  III.  p.  :«!).  t  II.  2.  p.  345. 

t  Wilkinson,  Vol.  III.  p.  223.  §  Wilk.  III.  386-8. 


WRITING  UPON  GARMENTS. 


Egyptian  priests  and  other  persons  of  rank   are  represented 
as  vvalkinor  with  sticks.* 


Writing  much  practised  in  Egypt. 

The  name  of  the  Israelitish  officers,  which  the  task-mas- 
ters of  Pharaoh  placed  over  them,  D""!!:'!;,  the  writers,  is  de- 
rived from  the  verb  ~it:d  ,  to  write.f  This  is  highly  charac- 
teristic of  the  state  of  things  in  Egypt.  In  no  land  of  the 
old  world  was  facility  in  writing  so  great,  and  the  materials 
for  writing  by  any  means  so  perfect,  as  in  Egypt.  "  Stone- 
workers  were  accustomed,"  says  R o s e 1 1  i n i,|  "to  engrave 
upon  each  square  block  an  inscription  in  hieroglyphics;  an 
impression  was  made  upon  the  bricks,  (which  besides  very 
frequently  bore  inscriptions, )§ — even  oxen  were  represented, 
— the  steward  of  the  house  kept  a  written  register.  They  pro- 
bably wrote  more  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  on  more  ordinary 
occasions,  than  among  us."  "  The  Egyptians,"  says  the 
same  author, ||  "differ  specially  from  all  other  people,  in  that 
they  constantly  cover  the  interior  and  exterior  of  their  houses, 
and  the  walls  of  all  the  innumerable  apartments,  of  their 
wonderful  subterranean  burial  places  with  images  and  writ- 
ing." "Upon  the  implements,  and  even  garments  of  the 
Egyptians,  the  name  of  the  owner  is  frequently  wholly  or  in 
part  inscribed."  "The  proper  name  of  the  profession  of  the 
men  is  written  upon  them  on  the  monuments,  the  name  of 
animals  upon  their  representatives,  and  that  of  implements 
of  every  sort  upon  the  figures  which  represent  them."  "We 
must  shut  our  eyes  against  the  clearest  light,  if  we  would 
deny  that  the  art  of  reading  and  writing  was  generally  stud- 
ied and  practised  in  ancient  Egypt,  to  as  great  a  degree  at 

*  Wilk.  III.  386. 

t  See  the  arguments  for  this  in  Th.  II.  der  BeitrHge  zur  Einl. 
S.  449  fF. 

X  II.  3.  p.  241.  §  p.  252.  3.  ||  p.  239. 

8* 


90  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

least  as  it  now  is  among  us."  Proof  from  the  monuments  is 
also  furnished  by  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,*  that  in  judicial  transactions, 
everything  was  transacted  in  writing.  The  scribes,  who 
meet  our  eyes  wherever  we  look,  act  an  important  part.t 
The  judges  of  the  under-world  all  carry  upon  their  heads  the 
symbolic  pen  of  truth  and  justice.^  The  passion  for  writing 
was  so  incorporated  with  the  business  of  Egypt,  that  even 
now  the  last  remains  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Copts,  are  in  ex- 
clusive possession  of  all  secretaries'  posts,  and  as  it  were,  form 
a  nation  of  scribes. §  These  Coptic  scribes  compose  a  nu- 
merous community,  with  a  kind  of  hierarchy.  These  re- 
ferences show,  that  these  and  the  remaining  passages  of 
the  Pentateuch  which  imply  a  great  extension  of  the  art  of. 
writing  among  the  Israelites  in  the  time  of  Moses, 1|  only 
make  known  what  cannot  have  been  otherwise,  and  thus 
are  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  narrative.  These  passages, 
so  far  from  witnessing  against  the  Mosaic  period,  have  now 
become  just  so  many  proofs  for  the  same.  The  little  foun- 
dation there  is  at  the  present  time  for  the  argument  against 
the  authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,  from  the  non-existence, 
or  at  least  the  limited  diffusion  of  the  art  of  writing,  is 
shown  by  such  facts  as  this,  that  S  al  v  ol  i  n  i^  allows  that 
the  manuscript  of  Sallier,  containing  a  description  of  the 
expedition  of  Remeses  the  Great  against  the  Scheta  and  their 
allies,  was  written  about  the  year  1565  before  Christ ! 
Whether  in  this  particular  case  he  is  in  error  or  not,  is,  for 
our  argument,  a  matter  of  indifference.  For,  it  is  sufficient 
that  an  inquirer  so  generally  esteemed  for  discrimination, 
■can  suppose  such  a  date  possible, — that  he  did  not  even  con- 

*  Vol.  II.  3.  p.  272  seq.  t  Ros.  p.  272  seq. 

X  Ros.  II.  500. 

§  See  e.  g.  Girard  in  the  Descr.  t.  17.  p.  192. 

II  They  are  found  collected  in  Th.  2.  der  Beitrage  S.  457  ff. 

li  Campagne  de  Rliamses,  Paris  1835,  p.  123. 


EGYPTIAN  PAPER.  91 

sider  it  necessary  to  question  whether  writing  existed  at  that 
time  in  Egypt. 

We  will  here  make  some  additions  to  our  Essay  concern- 
ing writing  materials  in  the  Mosaic  period.*  The  Egyptians 
wrote  with  reddish  ink.t  The  common  material  on  which 
they  wrote  was  paper  made  of  the  papyrus  plant,  which  is 
found  in  great  quantities  in  the  common  tombs.  The  great 
abundance  of  coarse  and  fine  paper  which,  from  the  dates, 
belonged  to  the  different  dynasties  of  the  Pharaohs,  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  18th,  make  it  certain  that  the  use  of  paper 
in  Egypt  at  the  time  of  Alexander  was  very  old,  and  therefore 
refutes  the  declarations  of  P 1  i  n  y.  The  Egyptians  also  wrote 
with  ink  and  red  chalk  upon  cloth.  We  have  in  our  possession, 
wrappers  of  mummies  of  byssos,  written  over  with  the  ritual 
for  the  dead-l  They  also  wrote  catalogues,  accounts,  and 
other  such  like  things  with  ink  upon  wood,  vessels  of  Ter- 
ra Cotta,  pieces  of  lime-stone,  etc.§  Finally,  they  also  wrote 
on  parchment.  1 1 

Preparation  of  Stone  for  Inscriptions. 

The  passage,  Deut.  chap,  xxvii,  according  to  which  the 
stones  to  be  written  upon  were  to  be  first  covered  with  lime, 
has  already  been  explained  and  verified  from  the  antiquities 
ofEgypt.^  We  here  add  also,  a  reference  to  Wilkin- 
son, Vol.  III.  p.  300,  where  the  sand-stone  of  the  Egyptians 
is  said  to  have  had  a  kind  of  stucco  spread  over  it  before  the 
paintings  were  made,  and  even  granite  was  covered  with  a 
similar  composition.  P  r  o  k  e  s  c  h**  says  :  "I  saw  one,(among 

*  Th.  2.  der  BeitrJige,  S.  481  ff. 

t  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  207,  with  which,  in  order  to  call  to  mind  that  the 
use  of  ink  is  implied  in  Num.  5:  23,  compare  what  was  said  on  this 
passage,  Beitiiig,  Th.  2.  S.  489. 

X  Ros.  p.  227.  §  Ros.  p.  228. 

II  Wilk.  Vol.  111.  p.  152.  ^  Beitrage,  Th.  2.  S.  464. 

**  Erinnerungen  aus  Aeg.  und  Kleinas,  Th.  2.  S,  31. 


98  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  tombs  in  the  pyramids  of  Dashoor,)  where  a  red  mortar  is 
first  laid  upon  the  stone,  and  then  tlie  hieroglyphics  and  a 
figure  of  the  apis  are  impressed  upon  this  coating. 


The  Bastinado. 

The  scene  in  chap.  5:  14,  where  the  officers  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  whom  the  Egyptian  overseers  of  Pharaoh 
placed  over  them,  were  beaten  because  those  under  their 
charge  had  not  performed  their  task  in  brick-making,  is 
placed  vividly  before  our  eyes  in  the  representation  of  an 
Egyptian  bastinado  in  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n.*  With  this  compare 
another  representation,!  where  "the  laborers  are  stimulated 
to  work  by  the  persuasive  powers  of  the  stick."  The  first 
painting  shows  conclusively,  that  the  mode  of  inflicting 
stripes  described  in  Deut.  25:  2,  (the  guilty  person  is  laid 
down  flat  upon  the  ground  before  the  judge  and  beaten,)  was 
precisely  the  Egyptian  mode.  Wilkinson  describes  it  in 
the  following  words:  "Men  and  boys  were  laid  prostrate  on 
the  ground,  and  frequently  held  by  the  hands  and  feet,  while 
the  chastisement  was  administered."! 


The  Shoterim  of  the  IsraiJitcs,  the  same  as  the  Modern 
Sheikh  el'Beled. 

Analogy,  for  the  taking  of  officers  from  the  oppressed  peo- 
ple themselves,  who  are  made  responsible  for  the  performance 
of  prescribed  labor,  may  be  found  in  modern  Egypt.  This 
same  thing  is  done  among  the  Arab  fellahs,  whose  condition, 
under   the  government  of  the  Turks,  as  the  description  of 

*  Vol.  II.  p.  41.  t  Wilk.  II.  p.  42. 

+  Compare  Rosellini,  II.  ''\.  p.  274,  and  concerning  the  presence  of 
a  magistrate  at  tlie  execution  of  the  punishment,  the  same  author, 
p.  27b. 


THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  SCRIBE.  93 

Michaud,*  for  example,  shows,  agrees  in  many  respects 
remarkably  with  that  of  the  Israelites.  In  each  village,  one 
of  the  Arabs,  under  the  title  of  Sheikh  el-Beled,  occupies  the 
place  of  mediator  between  the  government  and  the  people. 
He  must  see  that  the  men  perform  the  prescribed  labor,  and 
collect  from  them  the  taxes  which  the  government  imposes 
upon  them.  The  Sheikh  el-Beled  is  often  seen  under  the 
stick  of  the  Kaim-makam,  the  Kashif  or  the  Mamoor,  in  the 
place  of  some  individual  of  the  common  people,  of  whom  he 
in  turn  afterwards  takes  vengeance.t 

The  Duties  of  the  Shoterim. 

Since  we  are  now  occupied  with  the  Shoterim,  we  will 
also  add,  that  the  position,  hitherto  not  properly  understood, 
which  they,  according  to  the  precepts  in  Deut.  20:  1  seq., 
must  have  held  with  reference  to  warlike  affairs,  (they  had 
the  care  of  levying  soldiers,  and  excusing  those  unable  to 
perform  military  service,  and  they  delivered  the  troops  over 
to  the  military  chiefs,  the  "  captains  of  the  armies,"  in  verse 
9th,)  is  explained  by  the  post  which  the  scribes  occupy 
in  the  same  sphere  in  modern  Egypt,  and  in  all  probability 
the  whole  institution  of  the  Shoterim,  as  it  is  entirely  alien  to 
patriarchal  customs,  is  of  Egyptian  origin.  The  scribes  in 
the  representation  of  Egyptian  warlike  scenes  act  an  impor- 
tant part.  In  levying  soldiers,  for  instance,  they  write  down 
the  names  of  those  who  are  brought  before  them  by  their 
commanders.f  They  count,  in  the  presence  of  the  king, 
the  hands  of  the  slain  which  have  been  cut  off,  and  some- 
times also  their  tongues  and  other  members  of  the  body ; 
they  make  a  statement  of  the  weapons,  the  horses  and  the 
rest  of  the  booty,  and  present  it  to  the  king,§  and  they  per- 
form whatever  such  like  things  there  are  to  be  done. 

*  Correspondance,  t.  5.  p.  254.  t  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  257. 

X  Ros.  II.  3.  p.  218.  §  Wilk.  I.  p.  393. 


94  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


The  Arrogance  of  the  Pharaohs. 

The  insolent  pride  with  which  Pharaoh  received  ihe  mes- 
sage communicated  by  Moses,  as  :  "  Who  is  Jehovah,  that  I 
should  hear  his  voice,  to  let  Israel  go ?"  "I  know  not  Jeho- 
vah and  will  not  let  Israel  go,"  in  chap.  5:  2;  the  obstinacy 
which  he  afterwards  exhibits,  when  the  divine  punishments 
fall  upon  him,  one  after  another,  in  deciding  to  go  to  de- 
struction with  his  land  and  people,  rather  than  yield,  are 
proved  on  the  monuments  in  various  ways,  to  be  in  accord- 
ance with  the  genuine  spirit  of  a  Pharaoh.  A  comparison  of 
the  representation  of  the  victory  of  Remeses  Meiamun,  in 
Thebes,  explained  by  Champollio n,*  is  of  special  inter- 
est in  this  connection.  The  Pharaoh,  it  is  there  said,  at 
whose  feet  they  lay  down  these  trophies  of  victory,  (the  sev- 
ered right  hand  and  other  members  of  the  body,)  sits  quietly 
in  his  chariot,  while  his  horses  are  held  by  his  officers,  and 
directs  a  haughty  speech  to  his  warriors:  ''Give  yourselves 
to  mirth ;  let  it  rise  to  heaven.  Strangers  are  dashed  to  the 
ground  by  my  power.  Terror  of  my  name  has  gone  forth ; 
their  hearts  are  full  of  it ;  I  appear  before  them  as  a  lion ; 
I  have  pursued  them  as  a  hawk;  I  have  annihilated  their 
wicked  souls.  I  have  passed  over  their  rivers ;  I  have  set  on 
fire  their  castles;  I  am  to  Egypt  what  the  god  Mandoo  has 
been;  I  have  vanquished  the  barbarians;  Amun  Re,  my 
father,  subdued  the  whole  world  under  my  feet,  and  I  am 
king  on  the  throne  forever."  It  is  said  that  we  mistake  the 
whole  character  of  C  h  a  m  p  o  1 1  i  o  n  's  work,  if  we  assert  the 
literal  truth  of  this  translation  ;  but  the  spirit  which  the 
speech  breathes  may  always  be  recognized  from  it. 

The  ancient  Egyptian  kings  named  themselves  in  their 
pride,  Kings  of  the  whole  world,f  and  what  is  yet  more,  they 
in  this  arrogance  claim  divine  honors  for  themselves.     This 

"*  In  den  Briefen  aus  Aeg.  p.  !:>>7.  t  Chanipollion,  p.  231. 


ARROGANCE  OF  THE  PHARAOHS.  95 

can  be  proved  by  a  multitude  of  arguments,  of  which  we  will 
here  give  only  a  few.  The  Menephtheum  at  Thebes  has  a 
double  character,*  that  of  a  temple  and  palace.  It  is  in  all 
its  plan  destined  for  the  dwelling  of  a  man,  and  yet  it  re- 
minds one  by  its  decorations,  of  the  consecrated  residence  of 
a  god.  Even  the  name  Pharaoh  is  a  monument  of  this  idea. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  designates  the  king,  as  the  incar- 
nation of  the  sun,  which  the  Egyptians  named  Phre.  The 
proof  of  this  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  f  furnishes,  relying  specially  upon 
the  fact  that  among  the  royal  emblems,  a  disk,  representing 
the  sun,  takes  the  first  place.  This  is,  accordingly,  the  first 
title  which  all  the  kings  of  Egypt  bore.  Phre  also  occurs, 
Gen.  41:  45,  in  the  name  of  the  priest  at  On  or  Heliopolis, 
city  of  the  sun,  Potiphera,  that  is,  consecrated  to  Phre. 
This  name  is  also  very  common  on  the  Egyptian  monuments.| 

*  Champollion,  p.  257.  t  1. 1.  p.  115. 

t  See  also  Wilkinson,  Egypt  and  Thebes,  p.  5,  note,  and  Manners 
and  Customs,  Vol.  I.  p.  43. 


96  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  SIGNS  AND  WONDERS  IN  EGYPT. 

The  Connection  of  the  Supernatural  icith  the  Natural  in  the 
Plagues  of  Egypt. 

The  part  of  Exodus  which  we  now  proceed  to  examine,  is 
of  great  importance  for  our  object,  first  and  principally  in 
that  the  supernatural  events  described,  all  find  a  foundation 
in  the  natural  phenomena  of  Egypt,  and  stand  in  close  con-^ 
nection  with  ordinary  occurrences,  and  also  on  account  of 
the  many  separate  references  in  the  narrative,  which  show 
how  very  accurate  the  author's  knowledge  of  Egypt  was. 

As  respects  the  first  point,  many  have  wished  to  make  the 
connection  of  the  wonders  with  the  natural  phenomena  of 
Egypt,  an  argument  against  the  Pentateuch.  So  indeed  the  En- 
glish deists  have  done,  as,  for  example  M  o  r  g  a  n.* — Among 
those  more  recent,  v.  Boh  lent  is  conspicuous.  Moses,  he 
remarks,  in  order  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  self  deception,  was 
atleast  obliged  to  express  himself  in  the  mildest  manner  pos- 
sible among  his  contemporaries,  who  were  so  well  acquainted 
with  Egypt,  if  he  wished  to  make  the  commonly  observed 
natural  phenomena  avail  as  miracles.  But  it  is  perfectly 
clear,  that  these  occurrences  as  they  are  related,  notwith- 
standing their  foundation  in  nature,  always  maintained  their 
character  as  miracles,  and  consequently  are  sufficient  to  prove 
what  they  are  intended  to  prove,  and  to  accomplish  what 
they  did  accomplish.  Attempts  to  merge  the  supernatural 
in   the  natural,  such    as   have   been    made    by  Du   Bois 

*  Conip.  Lilienthal,  die  gate  Sache  der  goltl.  Offenb.  Th.  0.  8.33. 
t  S.  56.  der  Eiiil. 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  IN  THE  PLAGUES.  97 

Ay  me,*  and  then  by  Eichhorn,t  will  not  accomplish 
their  design.  Indeed,  the  unusual  force  in  which  the  com- 
mon exhibitions  of  nature  here  manifest  themselves,  and 
especially  their 'rapid  succession,,  While  at  other  times  only  a 
single  one  exhibits  itself  with  unusual  intensity,  as  well  as 
the  fact  that  Eichhorn,  notwithstanding  all  the  unnatural 
misrepresentations  in  which  he  allowed  himself,  yet  found  ma- 
terial for  a  treatise  on  the  wonderful  year  of  Egypt, — if  we 
at  the  same  time  consider  these  events  in  connection  with 
the  changing  cause  of  them,  and  also  take  into  account  the 
/exemption  of  the  Land  of  Goshen, — bring  us  to  the  limits  of 
the  miraculous  ;  for  the  transition  to  the  miraculous  is  reached 
by  the  extraordinary  in  its  highest  gradation. | 

But  we  are  brought  into  the  sphere  of  the  miraculous  itself, 
by  the  circumstance  that  these  things  are  introduced  and  per- 
formed by  Moses,  that  they  cease  at  his  request,  and  a  part 
of  them  at  a  time  fixed  upon  by  Pharaoh  himse1f.§  Hence 
the  connection  with  natural  phenomena  can  be  made  to  avail 
against  the  Pentateuch,  only  when,  going  beyond  the  present 
narrative,  we  limit  what  in  it  can  be  explained  by  the  natural 
occurrences  of  Egypt,  and  establish  the  presumption,  that 
the  remainder  belongs  to  fiction.  But  this  assumption  wants 
all  foundation.  Not  until  the  historical  character  of  the 
Pentateuch  is  disproved,  is  it  necessary,  in  conformity  with 

*  Notice  sur  le  sejour  des  Hebreux  en  Egypte,  Description,  t.  viii. 

1  In  his  Treatise,  De  Aegypti  Anno  mirabili. 

t  Even  Du  Bois  Ayme  in  a  manner  acknowledges  this.  He  says, 
Descr.  t.  8.  p.  110  :  "  Que  V  on  ecarte  done  de  la  description  des 
plaies  d'  Egypte  les  exaggerations  poetiques  permises  k  celui,  qui  de- 
crit  avec  transport  les  phenomenes  qui  ont  servi  a  la  d61ivrance  de 
son  peuple,  et  1'  on  verra  tout  prestige  s'  evanouir ;  mais  le  concours 
tie  tant  d'  evenemens  extraordinaires  quoique  naturals,  et  leur  resul- 
tat  sur  le  cour,  endurci  du  Pharaon,  pourrout  neanmoins  etre  con- 
siderescomme  une  preuve  frappante  de  la  protection  divine." 

§  See  Ex.  8:  5  seq. 

9 


98  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  natural  philosophy  of  Egypt,  to  separate  truth  and  fiction 
from  one  another,  although  it  is  then  better  to  transfer  the 
whole  narrative  to  the  province  of  mythology,  since  the  natu- 
ral in  it  acquires  its  significance  merely  through  its  connec- 
tion with  the  supernatural.  And  so  soon  as  it  shall  be  se- 
parated, we  can  no  longer  comprehend  how  Moses  could 
make  use  of  this  to  prove  anything,  and  how  it  produced  the 
consequences  ascribed  to  it. 

But,  that  the  natural  is  in  itself  a  presumption  against  the 
supernatural,  and  thus  furnishes  an  argument  against  the 
historical  veracity  of  the  Pentateuch,  cannot  be  affirmed. 
If  we  exert  ourselves  to  bring  forward  any  one  tenable  rea- 
son for  this,  we  shall  soon  see  that  we  have  allowed  an  en- 
tirely arbitrary  assumption.  On  the  contrary,  that  the  con- 
nection with  the  natural  serves  for  confirmation  to  the  super- 
natural, is  clear  from  the  following  reasons. 

Since  we  have  shown  that  the  natural  ground-work  of  these 
wonderful  events  cannot  be  made  an  argument  against  the 
Pentateuch,  it  belongs  to  us  also  to  point  out  how  far  it  is  in 
favor  of  the  same.  Here  comes  into  view,  first,  the  fitness  of 
this  character  of  the  miracle  to  the  end  designed.  The  su- 
pernatural presents  generally  in  the  Scriptures,  no  violent 
opposition  to  the  natural,  but  rather  unites  in  a  friendly  al- 
liance with  it.  This  follows  from  the  most  intimate  relation 
in  which  natural  events  also  stand  to  God.  The  endeavor  to 
isolate  the  miraculous  can  aid  only  impiety.  But  there  was 
here  a  particular  reason  also  for  uniting  the  supernatural  as 
closely  as  possible  with  the  natural.  The  object  to  which  all 
of  these  occurrences  were  directed,  according  to  chap.  8:  20, 
was  to  show  that  Jehovah  is  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  land. 
Well-grounded  proof  of  this  could  not  have  been  produced 
by  bringing  suddenly  upon  Egypt  a  succe.ssion  of  strange 
terrors.  From  these  it  would  only  have  followed  that  Jeho- 
vah had  received  a  momentary  and  external  power  over  Egypt. 
On  the  contrary,  if  the  events  which  annually  return  were 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  AND  THE  NATURAL.         99 

placed  under  the  immediate  control  of  Jehovah,  it  would  be 
appropriately  shown  that  He  was  God  in  the  midst  of  the 
land,  and  the  doom  of  the  false  gods  which  had  been  placed 
in  his  stead  would  go  forth,  and  they  would  be  entirely  driven 
out  of  the  jurisdiction  which  was  considered  as  belonging  to 
them.* 

Further,  later  fiction  would  aim  specially  at  the  dissolution 
of  all  connection  between  the  supernatural  and  the  natural, 
on  the  supposition  that  the  dignity  of  the  former  would  be 
marred,  and  that  the  omnipotence  of  the  Lord  and  his  love 
for  Israel  would  be  obscured,  through  this  connection.  It 
would  make  it  an  object  to  concentrate  upon  Egypt  the 
strangest  terrors.  The  consideration  of  the  significance  of 
the  connection  of  the  supernatural  with  the  natural,  which 
has  just  been  pointed  out,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  counter- 
balance this  advantage,  even  if  it  could  be  supposed  that  this 
delicate  manner  of  considering  the  subject,  so  far  removed 
from  common  observation,  would  have  been  understood. 
And  even  aside  from  this  view,  a  fictitious  account  could 
never  succeed  in  sustaining  so  accurately  the  Egyptian  cha- 
racter in  connection  with  the  supernatural,  in  preventing  the 
obtrusion  of  an  element  which  was  not  Egyptian.  Were  it 
even  probable  that  individual  Israelites  of  later  times  had  an 
accurate  acquaintance  with  Egypt,  it  would  be  of  little  ad- 

*  Even  the  earlier  commentators  have  occasionally  hinted  at  this 
reason  for  a  connection  of  the  supernatural  with  the  natural,  yet  with- 
out givirtg  to  the  thought  its  full  importance.  Thus,  Calvin,  for  ex- 
ample, in  his  remarks  upon  the  account  of  the  plague  of  frogs,  says  : 
Aegyptios  ante  quasi  precario  vitam  duxisse  ostendit  deus,  quia  sin- 
gulari  beneficio  protexerat  ab  incursu  ranarum.  Scimus  Aegyptum 
ob  multas  paludes  et  lentum  ac  prope  stagnantem  Nilum  multis  ranis 
et  venenatis  bestiis  fuisse  refertam.  Nunc  quum  subito  erumpunt 
ingentes  turmae,  agrorum  superficiem  obtegunt,  penetrant  etiam  in 
domos  et  cubicula,  denique  in  regium  palatium  conscendunt :  facile 
apparet  fuisse  ante  cohibitas  sola  dei  manu  atque  ita  deum  Hebraeorum 
fuisse  regni  illins  praesidern  et  custodem. 


100  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

vantage,  since  the  thing  would  necessarily  not  take  its  shape 
from  them  merely,  but  far  more  from  the  prevailing  igno- 
rance of  Egypt.  Thus,  therefore,  the  connection  of  the  su- 
pernatural with  the  natural,  throughout  the  whole,  is  an  ar- 
gument for  the  credibility  of  the  narrative,  for  its  composition 
at  the  time  it  purports  to  have  been  made,  and  consequently 
for  its  Mosaic  origin. 

Moses'  Rod  changed  to  a  Serpent. 

After  these  general  remarks,  we  turn  to  particular  explana- 
tions. A  sign  which  is  of  a  harmless  nature,  precedes,  in  Ex. 
7:  8 — 13,  the  signs  which  are  comprehended  in  the  number 
ten  as  a  perfect  number,  and  which  are  also  plagues.  Trial 
is  first  made,  whether  Pharaoh,  in  reference  to  whom  Cal- 
vin* so  strikingly  says,  "  There  is  presented  us  in  the  per- 
son of  one  abandoned,  an  example  of  human  arrogance  and 
rebellion,"  will  not  become  wise  without  severe  measures. 
Moses'  rod  is  changed  into  a  serpent,  the  Egyptian  magicians 
accomplish,  at  least  in  appearance,  the  same  thing;  but  Mo- 
ses' rod  swallows  up  their  rods.  This  counter-wonder  of  the 
Egyptian  magicians  is  founded  on  the  peculiar  condition  of 
Egypt;  much  more  is  the  Mosaic  sign, — the  same  by  which 
indeed  Moses  had  already,  by  the  divine  command,  proved  his 
commission  from  God,  among  the  elders  of  his  people.  Mo- 
ses was  furnished  with  power  to  perform  that  which  the 
Egyptian  magicians  most  especially  gloried  in,  and  by  which 
they  most  of  all  supported  their  authority. 

The  incantation  of  serpents  has  been  native  to  Egypt  from 
the  most  ancient  even  to  the  present  time.t     The  French 

*  Nobis  in  unius  reprobi  persona  superbiae  et  rebellionis  humanae 
imago  subjicitur. 

t  Compare  Aelian,  17.  5,  and  the  summary  of  tlie  accounts  of  the 
ancients,  concerning  the  Psylli,  in  Quatremere,  Memoires  sur  1'  Egyp- 
te,  1. 1,  p.  202  seq. 


THE  PSYLLI  IN  EGYPT.  101 

scliolars,  in  their  Description,  have  given  the  most  accordant 
accounts  of  it.  Even  those  who  entered  upon  an  examina- 
tion of  the  subject  with  most  absolute  unbelief,  have  been 
forced  to  the  conviction  that  there  is  something  in  it, — that 
the  Psylli  are  found  in  possession  of  a  secret  charm,  which 
places  them  in  a  condition  to  bring  about  the  most  wonder- 
ful consequences.  "  We  confess,"  it  is  said,  that  we,  "  far 
removed  from  all  easy  credulity,  have  ourselves  been  wit- 
nesses of  some  things  so  v/onderful,  that  we  cannot  consider 
the  art  of  the  serpent-tamers  as  entirely  chimerical.  W 
believed  at  first  that  they  removed  the  teeth  of  serpents  and 
the  stings  of  scorpions,  but  we  have  had  opportunity  to  con- 
vince ourselves  of  the  contrary."*  "  I  am  persuaded,"  says 
€luatremere,t  "that  there  were  a  certain  number  of 
men  found  among  the  Psylli  of  antiquity,  who  by  certain  se- 
cret preparations  put  themselves  in  a  condition,  not  to  fear 
the  bite  of  serpents,  and  to  handle  the  most  poisonous  of 
them  uninjured."  "In  Egypt  and  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries," says  the  same  author,  "  there  are  men  and  women, 
who  truly  deserve  the  name  of  Psylli,  and  who  uninjured 
handle  the  cerastes  and  other  serpents,  whose  poison  pro- 
duces immediate  death."!  That  they  do  not  probably  break 
out  the  poisonous  teeth,  Hasselquist  also  testifies,  from 
personal  observation.  According  to  the  account  in  the  De- 
scription,§  the  art  passes  from  father  to  son.  The  Psylli  form 
an  association  claiming  to  be  the  only  individuals  who  are  able 
to  charm  serpents,  and  to  free  houses  from  them.  Never  does 
any  other  than  the  son  of  a  Psylli  attain  to  this  ability.  Ser- 
pents in  Egypt  often  conceal  themselves  in  the  houses,  and 
then  become  very  dangerous.  When  anything  of  this  kind 
is  suspected,  they  have  recourse  to  the  Psylli.     The  French 

*  In  a  Treatise,  De  1'  art  des  ophiogines  ou  enchanteurs  des  ser- 
pens, in  t,  18.  of  the  Descr.  p.  333  seq. 

t  As  above  quoted,  p.  204.  I  Quatremere,  p.  210 

§  T.  24,  p.  82  seq. 

9* 


102  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

commander-ill-chief  wished  at  a  certain  time  to  examine  the 
affair  to  the  bottom.  He  called  for  the  Psylli,  and  com- 
manded them  to  produce  from  the  palace  a  serpent,  which, 
from  traces  discovered,  was  supposed  to  be  there.  The  moist 
places  were  especially  examined.  There  the  Psylli  called,  by 
imitating  the  hissing,  sometimes  of  the  male  and  sometimes 
of  the  female  serpent.  After  two  hours  and  a  fourth  a  serpent 
truly  presented  itself.  In  the  religious  festivals,  the  Psylli 
appear  entirely  naked,  with  the  neck,  arms  and  other  parts  of 
the  body  coiled  around  by  serpents,  which  they  permit  to 
sting  and  tear  their  breast  and  stomach,  and  effectually  defend 
themselves  against  them  with  a  sort  of  frenzy,  pretending  to 
wish  to  eat  them  alive.  Their  sleight  of  hand  is  very  various. 
They  are  able,  according  to  their  assertions,  to  change  the " 
Haie — i.  e.  the  species  of  serpent  which  they  especially  make 
use  of  for  their  tricks — into  a  rod,  and  compel  them  to  feign 
themselves  dead.  When  they  wish  to  perform  this  operation, 
they  spit  in  the  throat  of  the  animal,  compel  it  to  shut  up  its 
mouth,  and  lay  it  down  upon  the  ground.  Then,  as  if  in 
order  to  give  a  last  command,  they  lay  their  hand  upon  its 
head,  and  immediately  the  serpent,  stiff  and  motionless,  falls 
into  a  kind  of  torpor.  They  wake  it  up  when  they  wish, 
seizing  it  by  the  tail  and  rolling  it  roughly  between  the 
hands."  Du  Bois  Ay  me*  gives  his  testimony  to  the  same 
thing. 

That  which  is  related  to  us  of  the  condition  of  modern 
serpent  charmers  in  the  practice  of  their  sleight  of  hand,  is 
entirely  sufficient  to  give  an  insight  into  the  condition  of  the 
Egyptian  magicians  who  withstood  Moses.  The  state  of  these 
last,  no  less  than  the  first,  was  certainly  that  of  the  highest 
enthusiasm,  and  cannot  be  attributed  to  a  merely  deliberate 
attempt  to  deceive;  although  deception,  as  is  shown  to  be  the 
case  with  the  modern  Egyptian  Psylli,  is  by  no  means  exclu- 
ded by  enthusiasm,  but  rather  often  goes  hand  in  hand  with  it. 

*  Page  108. 


INCANTATION  OF  SERPENTS.  103 

That  the  condition  of  the  Psylli  is  one  of  ecstacy  is  indeed 
clear  from  the  passages  already  quoted.  According  to  M  i  n- 
utoli,*  *' the  people  consider  them  as  holy.  At  certain 
festivals,  e.  g.  on  the  day  before  the  departure  of  the  great 
caravan  to  the  Holy  Caaba,  they  go  forth  in  procession  with 
live  snakes  around  their  necks  and  arms,  having  their  faces 
in  contortions  like  an  insane  person,  until  foam  falls  from 
the  mouth.  They  sometimes  also  tear  the  serpents  with  their 
teeth.  When  they  are  in  this  condition,  the  people  press 
around  them,  especially  the  women,  in  order  if  it  is  possible, 
to  touch  their  foaming  mouths  with  their  hands."  The  same 
author  describes  one  of  the  Psylli,  who  had  been  sent  for  to  free 
a  house  from  serpents,  in  the  following  manner  :  "The  appear- 
ance of  this  man  was  that  of  a  true  magician.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  his  operation  he  stripped  himself  naked  even  to  a  little 
apron  about  his  hips ;  upon  his  breast  hung  a  chain  of  black 
coral ;  his  head  was  shorn  to  a  bunch  of  hair  which  stood  up 
like  bristles  upon  the  top  of  his  head  ;  his  body  was  dark 
brown  and  muscular.  Rolling  his  eyes,  and  with  the  rod  of 
divination  in  his  hand,  he  now  walked  forth  with  a  grave 
demeanor,  and  in  the  meantime,  whilst  casting  forth  louder 
and  louder  imprecations,  and  thrusting  against  the  ceiling  and 
walls  with  his  divining  rod,  he  searched  thoroughly  the 
chambers  and  corners,  now  of  the  upper  and  now  of  the 
lower  story.  His  fumigations  of  meal,  sulphur  and  onion 
parings  were  at  last  so  stupifying  that  a  hard  cough  often 
interrupted  the  formula  of  incantation,  and  he  was  several 
times  obliged  to  invigorate  himself  by  smoking  a  pipe  of 
tobacco." 

It  is  entirely  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  antiquity  in  general, 
and  of  Egyptian  antiquity  in  particular,  to  explain  the 
phrase,  "  This  is  the  finger  of  God,"  chap.  VIII,  as  meaning, 
"  This  is  accomplished  by  God,"  so  that  the  magicians  say, 

^  S.  266,  fF.  der  Reise. 


104  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

that  until  now  they  have  contended  with  Moses  and  Aaron 
upon  earthly  ground,  with  human  means,  and  there  they  have 
overcome,  but  now  God  appears.*  It  should  rather  be 
explained  :  By  the  power  of  God  have  they  obtained  the 
victory.  They  certainly  also  ascribe  to  Elohim  (not  Je- 
hovah) their  former  success  ;  the  whole  contest  was  a  contest 
of  God,  Gen.  30:  8,  and  therefore  their  present  inability  must 
be  to  them  of  just  so  much  greater  significance. 

It  deserves  to  be  noticed  also,  that  the  present  condition  of 
the  Psylli  in  Egypt  is  entirely  one  of  decay.  It  is  torn  loose 
from  its  natural  connexion,  the  soil  of  natural  religion  from 
which  it  originally  sprung.  It  exists  in  a  land  in  which  even 
now  modern  illumination  has  variously  exerted  its  influence 
and  hindered  its  freedom.  Accordingly  nothing  is  more 
natural  than  that  very  much  that  is  artificial  should  be  added 
to  the  exstatic  condition,  and  that  very  much  charlatanry 
should  creep  in.  But  what  now  remains  of  ecstacy  is  entirely 
sufficient  to  convince  us  of  the  intensity  of  it,  as  it  existed  in 
the  time  of  the  glory  of  the  Egyptian  religion  and  priesthood. 

The  opinion  expressed  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  modern 
Psylli,  which  we  find  among  observers  who  are  most  free 
from  prejudice,  and  also  among  those  who  on  the  other  hand 
are  decidedly  under  the  dominion  of  prejudice,  guide  us  in 
explaining  the  fact,  that  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch  does 
not  speak  definitely  upon  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  results 
produced  by  the  Egyptian  magicians.  Were  the  thing  so 
simple  as  it  is  generally  considered  to  be,  were  it  either 
common  jugglery  or  something  really  miraculous,  performed 
by  the  permission  of  God  through  satanic  influence,  then  the 
author  of  the  Pentateuch  would  not,  it  may  be  presumed,  fail 
to  express  an  opinion  upon  it.  But,  since  the  ground  on 
which  these  things  rest — a  very  dark  and  difficult  one — is 


"Calvin   says:   Digitum  dei  opponunt  suae  solerliae  et  peritiae. 
Pudcbat  cnim  fatcri  qucnquam  mortaliujn  scientia  praocellere. 


THE  3IAGICIANS  VANQUISHED.  105 

not  yet  indeed  but  imperfectly  explained  by  the  most  thoroucrh 
investigations,  it  was  preferable  to  remain  standing  at  the 
outer  edge  without  going  deeper  into  the  nature  of  these 
results.*  As  respects  the  thing  itself,  a  further  insight  into 
the  nature  of  these  consequences  avails  nothing.  What- 
ever opinion  they  had  of  it,  this  is  certahi,  that  even  in 
the  first  three  signs,  the  superior  power  of  the  God  of 
Israel  made  itself  sufficiently  known  to  any  one  who  did 
not  studiously  seek  a  support  for  his  unbelief  and  rebel- 
lion. They  change,  it  matters  not  whether  really  or  in  ap- 
pearance, their  rods  into  serpents,  but  the  rod  of  Moses 
swallows  up  their  rods;  they  also  change,  at  least  on  a  small 
scale,  water  into  blood,  but  they  are  not  able  to  restore  the 
blood  to  its  former  state;  in  like  manner,  imitating  on  a 
small  scale  the  miracle  of  Moses,  they  brought  up  frogs  upon 
the  land,  but  they  were  not  able  to  free  it  from  the  plague 
of  fi-ogs.  "  For  the  punishment  of  the  Egyptians,"  says 
Theodoret,  "  God  gave  also  to  magicians  power,  but  not  for 
removing  punishment;  since  the  king  had  not  enough  of  his 
plagues,  but  even  commanded  the  magicians  to  increase  the 
chastisement,  so  God  also  punished  him  through  these  :  Thou 
art  not  yet  satisfied  with  the  punishment  inflicted  by  my  ser- 
vants, so  punish  T  thee  also  by  thine  own."  And  the  relative 
power  of  the  Egyptian  magicians  in  the  beginning,  must  serve 
to  show  in  so  much  clearer  light  their  entire  impotence  as  it 
was  first  exhibited  in  the  little  gnats  and  then  continued 
invariable.  The  contest  was  first  intentionally  carried  on  in 
a  sphere  in  which  the  Egyptian  magicians,  as  we  certainly 
know  with  reference  to  the  first  sign,  had  hitherto  shown 
their  principal  power.     After  they  had  there  been  vanquished, 

*  The  word  Cn'^t2^a  in  chap.  7:  '22  and  8:  3, 14,  in  which  it  is  often 
affirmed  that  a  verdict  of  the  author  upon  this  matter  is  found,  con- 
tains no  such  thing ;  and  the  whole  contest  is  a  vain  one,  since 
there  is  nothing  existing  which  can  give  us  any  information  concern- 
ing his  opinion. 


106  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  scene  was  changed  to  a  sphere  in  which  they  could  not  at 
all  further  contend,  and  the  doom  which  in  this  way  came 
upon  them,  fell  through  them  upon  their  gods.* 

The  Jirst  Plague — the  Water  of  Egypt  changed  to  Blood. 

We  turn  now  to  the  second  sign  which  is  also  the  first 
plague.  It  consists  in  changing  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  and 
the  other  waters  of  Egypt  into  blood.  It  appears  from  Joel 
3:  4,  according  to  which,  the  moon  shall  be  changed  into 
blood,  that  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  literal  blood  is 
here  meant.  On  the  contrary  the  change  into  blood  can 
properly  only  have  reference  to  the  blood  red  color  ;  so  that 
the  blood  here  is  the  same  as  the  water  red  as  blood  in  2^ 
Kings  3:  22.  The  designation  is  here  evidently  chosen  for 
the  sake  of  the  symbolic  character  which  this  plague  bears, 
as  also  the  water  red  as  blood  in  the  passage  referred  to  in 
the  book  of  Kings  has  a  symbolic  significance,  announcing 
destruction  to  the  enemies  of  Israel.  To  the  Egyptians  shall 
the  reddened  water  be  blood,  reminding  them  of  the  innocent 
blood  which  they  have  shed,  and  pointing  to  the  flowing  guilty 
blood  to  be  shed.  In  this  characteristic  this  plague  is  coupled 
with  the  darkness  which  afterwards  covered  the  whole  land, 
as  both  also  appear  connected  in  Joel  3:  4 :  '*  The  sun  shall 
be  turned  into  darkness  and  the  moon  into  blood."  In 
the  symbolic  colors  arranged  by  the  Egyptians,  black  was 
the  color  of  death  and  mourning, — for  that  which  is  base  and 
its  author,  the  red  color  was  chosen,  probably  as  the  color 
of  blood. t 

That  there  is  found  something  analogous  to  this  plague  in 
the  natural  phenomena  of  Egypt  has  already  long  ago  been 
said.  The  water  of  the  Nile,  a  short  time  before  the  inun- 
dation, takes  a  green,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  inundation 

^Ex.  12:  12. 

t  Drumniann,  Uebcr  die  Inschriflin  Rosette,  S.  108,  109. 


WATER  CHANGED  TO  BLOOD.  107 

a  red  color.  The  cause  of  this  change  of  color  has  not  yet 
been  sufficiently  investigated.*  According  to  A  n  t  e  sf  the 
inhabitants  name  the  water  when  the  flood  has  reached  its 
highest  point  of  increase,  /.-f^l    A/^  (ma  ahmar),  red  water. 

In  the  year  1673  the  Nile  reddened  as  early  as  the  beginning 
of  July  and  continued  of  a  red  color  to  the  end  of  December, 
when  it  assumed  again  its  usual  hue.f 

In  common  years,  the  water  when  it  is  green  and  red  is 
drinkable.  Sonnini§  says:  "During  the  continuance  of 
my  journey,  I  with  my  companions  had  no  other  drink  than 
the  unmingled  water  of  the  Nile.  We  drank  it  without  any 
one  of  us  experiencing  inconvenience,  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  even  when  the  inundation  so  fills  it  with  slime  that  it  is 
thick  and  reddish,  and  appears  truly  loathsome." 

But  sometimes,  in  years  of  great  heat,  this  peculiarity  of 
water  becomes  a  great  calamity.  Thus  A  b  dol  1  atiph|| 
relates  :  "  In  the  year  596  (1199)  the  increase  of  the  Nile 
was  smaller  than  had  ever  been  known.  About  two  months 
before  the  first  indications  of  the  inundation,  the  waters  of 
the  river  assumed  a  green  color.  This  increased  by  degrees, 
and  it  became  putrid,  and  offensive  to  the  taste.     Sick  people 

*  Le  Pere  Aine  in  the  Memoir  sur  la  Vallee  du  Nil,  in  the  Descr.  t. 
18  p.  571  says  :  "  The  water  at  Cairo  is  found  by  analysis  to  be  five 
times  purer  than  that  of  the  Seine  at  Paris.  It,  however,  has  this 
degree  of  purity  only  at  the  time  when  the  inundation  begins  to 
diminish.  The  noxious  qualities  which  are  attributed  to  it,  at  the 
time  when  the  water  is  low  and  stagnant,  and  when  it  begins  to 
increase,  appear  to  proceed  from  an  innumerable  multitude  of  insects 
which  the  heat  generates  in  it.  The  causes  which  destroy  the 
purity  of  the  water  at  different  seasons  of  the  year,  are  not  yet  suffi- 
ciently investigated.  The  red  color  originates,  probably,  from  the 
earthy  particles  which  the  flood  brings  along  with  it  from  Sennaar." 

t  In  De  Sacy  upon  Abdollatiph,  p.  346. 

X  Hartmann,  Aegypten,  S.  1*28.  §  Th.  2.  S.  13. 

II  De  Sacy,  p.  332, 


108  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

avoided  drinking  from  it  and  drank  well-water.*  By  boiling, 
its  smell  and  taste  became  worse.  There  also  appeared  in  it 
worms  and  other  animals  which  live  in  stagnant  water." 

That  in  our  account  the  common  plague  existed  in  an 
entirely  uncommon  degree  is  evident,  since  the  ordinary 
means  of  purification  did  not  at  all  take  effect,  verse  19. 
The  Egyptians  could  not  drink  at  all  from  the  river,  verse  21, 
and  the  fish  also  died  in  it,  verse  18.  Of  this  last  effect  there 
is  no  other  example  on  record.  But  what  passes  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  the  barely  extraordinary  and  carries  the  occur- 
rence into  the  region  of  the  miraculous,  is,  that  the  changing 
of  the  waters  took  place  not  merely  suddenly  while  it  com- 
monly is  gradual,!  but  it  also  was  in  accordance  with  the^ 
prediction  of  Moses,  and  just  at  the  moment  when  he  lifted 
his  rod. 

The  circumstances  which  are  also  sometimes  referred  to 
as  proof  of  the  diflference  between  this  change  of  the  water 
and  the  one  which  is  common,  namely,  that  it  occurred  at  an 
entirely  unusual  time,  and  that  it  also  ceased  far  more  sud- 
denly than  common,  are  shown  on  closer  examination  to  be 
without  foundation.  For  with  reference  to  the  time  of  this 
first  plague,  there  is  nothing  said  in  the  account,  and  it  is 
therefore  most  probable  that  in  this  respect  it  offered  nothing 
extraordinary.  The  reason  which  De  Wette|  adduces, 
that  the  first  plagues,  in  reference  to  time,  must  border  near- 
ly on  the  last  which  took  place  some  time  between  the  end 
of  February  and  the  beginning  of  April  :  'They  must  follow 
each  other  at  short  intervals  if  they  shall  produce  wonder  and 
fear,'  has  little  force.  For  the  facts  were  of  a  kind,  that 
could  not  fail  to  make  a  deep  impression,  if  they  were 
separated  from  one   another  by  even  longer  intervals ;  and 

*  See  Ex.  7:24. 

t  Compare   the   interesting  cases  of  the  change  of  water  to  a  red 
color  in  other  countries.     Rosenm.  A.  u.  N.  Morgenl.  Tk.  1.  S.  281  ff. 
^Krit.  dor  Isr.  Gesch.  S.  i;t3. 


Water  changed  to  blood.  109 

besides,  it  had  a  peculiar  significance,  if  Jehovah  went 
through,  as  it  were,  an  entire  course  with  the  Egyytians — 
following  now  with  his  miracles,  the  customary,  revolving 
circle  of  nature  in  their  land.  Let  it  be  remarked,  as  the 
account  says  nothing  of  the  time  of  the  first  plagues,  the  as- 
sumption of  V.  B  o  h  1  e  n  :  "  Since  the  Exodus  of  the  Israel- 
ites was  in  the  month  A  bib,  just  at  the  time  of  the  Passover, 
the  most  of  these  plagues,  which  first  appear  in  midsummer 
can  be  devised  only  by  one  who  has  a  merely  casual  acquain- 
tance with  the  land,"  is  baseless.  But  were  such  specifica- 
tions of  time  found,  it  would  be  pertinent  to  call  attention  to 
the  fact,  that  the  author  nowhere  asserts  that  those  extraordi- 
nary events  are  confined  to  the  time  in  which  the  common 
events  belong.  The  second  asserted  difference  is  founded  on 
verse  25 ;  "  And  seven  days  were  fulfilled  after  that  the  Lord 
had  smitten  the  river."  But  we  have  no  right  to  infer*  from 
this,  that  that  condition  of  the  Nile  lasted  only  seven  days. 
The  words  are  rather  to  be  closely  connected  with  what  fol- 
lows, and  the  meaning  is  only,  that  seven  days  after  the  be- 
ginning of  the  first  plague,  concerning  the  end  of  which 
nothing  is  related,  the  announcement  of  the  second  follows. 

Although  it  belongs  not  to  our  immediate  purpose,  yet  we 
wish  to  remark  here,  briefly,  upon  the  ridiculous  contradic- 
tion which  has  been  found  in  this  narrative.  How  could  the 
Egyptian  magicians,  it  is  said,  after  Moses  has  changed  all 
the  waters  to  a  red  color,  do  the  same.  Setting  aside  all 
forced  solutions,  this  objection  is  easily  and  simply  annulled 
by  the  remark  that,  the  pressing  of  the  word  all,  upon  which 
this  contradiction  entirely  rests,  stands  in  opposition  to  the 
usage  in  the  Hebrew  historical  writings  in  general,  and  es- 
pecially in  narrating  the  great  deeds  of  the  Lord  in  Egypt, 
concerning  which  the  heart,  full  of  gratitude  and  astonish- 
ment, was  allowed  to  have  no  little  influence.     That  no  rule 

*  With  Jonathan  who  supplies  :  Et  postea  sanavit  verbum  domini 
fluvium. 

10 


110  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

is  without  exceptions  appears  to  the  writer  so  self-evident, 
that  he  supposes  there  is  no  necessity  to  avoid  the  full  ex- 
pression, on  account  of  exceptions,  which  with  him  are  entire- 
ly in  the  back-ground.  So  he  proceeds  throughout.  Accord- 
ing to  chap.  9:  25,  for  example,  all  the  trees  of  the  field  were 
broken  by  the  hail.  According  to  10:  5,  the  locusts  eat  all 
the  trees.  If  we  here  press  the  significance  of  the  all,  we 
shall  have  a  contradiction  for  the  explanation  of  which  even 
the  most  boundless  carelessness  is  not  sufficient. 

Besides  this  most  prominent  Egyptian  reference,  already 
noticed,  several  others  are  found.  We  will  begin  with  the 
one  most  strikinor  among  them,  which  is  contained  in  verse 
19.  It  is  there  said,  Blood  shall  be  in  all  of  Egypt,  "  both  in 
wood  and  stone,"  (Luther  :  both  in  vessels  of  wood  and^ 
stone).  These  words  have  at  first  view  something  very  re- 
markable, and  they  lose  it  only  when  they  are  explained  by 
the  Egyptian  customs,  to  which  they  refer,  as  has  already 
been  remarked.*  In  common  times  they  are  accustomed  to 
purify  the  turbid  water  of  the  Nile  in  vessels  of  wood  or 
stone,  generally  in  the  latter.  When  it  is  desirable  to  purify 
it  quickly,  a  ball  of  crushed  almonds  is  thrown  in  ;  when  there 
is  time  for  the  purification,  it  is  done  without  them.  The 
purification  with  almonds  is  particularly  described  by  Pros- 
per Alpinus,  Pococke,t  and  S  a  vary.  Of  the  sim- 
ple process  speaks  H  e  1  f  r  i  c  h,  as  quoted  by  H  a  r  t  m  a  n  n  :t 
"Helfrich  remarks,  that  the  water  in  large  vessels  of 
wood,  earth  and  also  of  unburned  clay,  even  without  the  ad- 
dition of  almonds,  settles  in  two  or  three  days.  According 
to  others  this  is  done  even  quicker."  And  then  M  a  y  r§  says : 
*'  The  water  which  comes  upon  the  table  is  passed  through 
vessels  of  a  kind  of  earth  which  forthwith  permits  the  liquid 
to  filter  through."  L  e  B  r  u  y  n||  says  that  it  is  considered  as 

*  In  den  Beob.  a.  d.  Orient,  Deutsch  von  Faber,  Th.  2.  S.  315. 
t  1.  312.  X  p.  130.  §  Reise,  Th.  2.  S.  19. 

II  Tom.  II.  p.  103.  Thevenot,  t.  1.  p.  245,  60. 


THE  WATERS  OF  EGYPT.  Ill 

very  fortunate,  to  be  in  possession  of  such  a  vessel  of  white 
earth.  It  is  also  said  that  the  water  becomes  so  putrid  that 
it  admits  no  purification.  But  it  is  of  far  more  importance, 
than  that  the  author  knows  the  common  method  of  purifying 
water  among  the  Egyptians,  to  consider  the  precise  manner 
in  which  he  speaks  of  it.  He  does  not  obtrude  this  know- 
ledge. He  supposes  that  a  mere  hint  is  enough  for  his  im- 
mediate readers,  who  were  themselves  acquainted  with  the 
peculiarities  of  Egypt,  and  it  does  not  occur  to  him  as  neces- 
sary to  add  anything  of  explanation.  Certainly  these  two 
words  ivood  and  stone  are  of  no  small  importance  with  respect 
to  the  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch. 

The  same  verse  furnishes  us  also  another  proof  of  the  au- 
thor's acquaintance  with  Egypt.  The  Lord  commanded 
Moses  to  take  his  rod  and  stretch  out  his  hand,  *'  upon  the 
waters  of  Egypt,  upon  its  streams,  upon  its  canals,  upon  its 
pools  and  upon  all  its  collections  of  water."  The  classification 
of  the  waters  of  Egypt  which  is  here  given,  appears  to  be  en- 
tirely accurate  and  complete.  The  streams,  nhn3 ,  says 
F  a  b  e  r,*  are  the  arms  of  the  Nile ;  the  ditches,  t]''"}^'] ,  are 
the  artificial  canals  ;t  the  pools,  CTDa^i ,  are  the  stagnant 
ponds,  which  the  Nile  makes,  called  in  Egypt,  Birke, — of 
these  there  are  many  ;  the  collections  of  water,  D';?^  J-iip^-bs  , 
are  all  the  other  standing  water,  or  that  which  is  left  be- 
hind by  the  Nile,  the  lakes  and  puddles,  from  which  the 
peasants  who  live  at  a  distance  from  the  Nile,  water  their 
land ;  and  indeed,  even  the  inhabitants  of  Cairo  are  compelled 
to  pay  for  and  drink  this  water,  since  the  carriers  bring  it  to 
them  on  camels,  instead  of  the  Nile  water  which  is  farther  off.f 

*  Zu  Harmar,  S.  326-7. 

1  Compare  upon  D^-iS"i  ,  with  the  signification  of  canals^  Ges. 
Thes.  s.  V.  '    ■■ 

X  Thevenot,  t.  1.  p.  173.  In  reference  to  the  Egyptian  lakes,  Hart- 
mann,  S.  146,  may  be  compared.  He  remarks:  "Also  upon  them, 
the  inundation  of  the  Nile  has  a  considerable  influence,  supplying 


112  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

The  threat  of  Moses  and  the  described  inconveniences 
which  its  fulfilment  brought  upon  the  Egyptians,  is  founded 
on  the  importance  wliich  the  Nile  water  has  for  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  upon  the  enthusiastic  love  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Egypt  for  it.  The  Nile  water  is  almost  the  only  drinkable 
water  in  Egypt.  For  the  water  of  the  few  wells  is  distasteful 
and  unwholesome.  The  Turks,  according  to  Mascrier, 
find  the  water  so  pleasant  that  they  eat  salt  in  order  to  be 
able  to  drink  more  of  it.  They  are  accustomed  to  say  if 
Mohammed  had  drank  thereof,  he  would  have  asked  im- 
mortality of  God,  so  that  he  might  always  drink  of  this  water. 
If  the  Egyptians  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  or  travel 
elsewhere,  they  speak  of  nothing  but  the  delight  which  they 
shall  experience  when  on  their  return  they  again  drink  of  the 
Nile  water,  etc.*  It  is  very  justly  said,  after  these  circum- 
stances have  been  referred  to,  "  He  who  has  never  under- 
stood anything  of  the  pleasantness  of  the  Nile  water,  and 
does  not  know  how  much  of  it  the  Egyptians  are  accustomed 
to  drink,  will  now  find  in  the  words  of  Moses,  'The  Egyp- 
tians shall  loathe,'  etc.,  a  meaning  which  he  has  not  before 
perceived.  The  sense  is,  they  loathe  the  water  which  they 
at  other  times  prefer  before  all  the  water  in  the  world,  even 
that  which  they  have  previously  longed  for.  They  prefer  to 
drink  well-water,  which  in  their  country  is  so  unpleasant."! 

In  verse  15,  it  is  said:  **Go  to  Pharaoh  in  the  morning, 
behold  he  goeth  out  to  the  water,  and  meet  him  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nile."  In  like  manner  in  chap.  8:  16  (20):  "Rise 
up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before  Pharaoh ;  behold 

them  with  water  where  tliey  are  dry,  and  increasing  it  where  any 
yet  remains."  See  also  Le  P^.re,  Mem,  s.  les  Lacs  de  la  basse  Egypte, 
in  the  Descr.  t.  16.  p.  199  seq. 

*  See  Maillet,  t.  2.  p.  103. 

t  III  den  Beob.  a.  d.  0|pent,  S.  311.  Compare  also  Oedmanns 
verm.  Sammlungen,  Th.'lTs.  130.  Rosenm.  A.  u.  N.  Morgenl.  Th, 
I  S.  27Gfr. 


THE  NILE  DEIFIED.  il3 

he  goeth  forth  to  the  water."  Both  passages  are  founded  on 
the  divine  honors  which  the  Egyptians  paid  to  the  Nile. 
Moses  is  commanded  to  meet  Pharaoh,  with  a  commission 
from  the  true  God,  whom  Pharaoh  wickedly  resists,  just 
when  he  is  preparing  to  bring  his  daily  offering  to  his  false 
gods.  In  the  first  passage,  this  moment  appears  to  be  the 
more  fitly  chosen,  since  the  threatened  demonstration  of  the 
omnipotence  of  Jehovah  is  exhibited  directly  upon  the  false 
god.  The  Egyptians,  even  in  the  most  ancient  times,  paid 
divine  honors  to  the  Nile.  Especially  was  he  zealously 
honored,  according  to  C  h  a  m  p  o  i  1  i  o  n,*  at  Nilopolis,  where 
he  had  a  temple.  Herodotusf  mentions  the  priests  of 
the  Nile.  "What  the  head  is  to  the  body,"  says  Horapol- 
1  0,1  "  the  Nile  is  to  the  Egyptians."  "  He  is,"  continues  the 
same  author,  "  according  to  representations  whose  antiquity 
cannot  be  determined,  identical  with  Osiris§  and  the  highest 
God.  II"  Lucian^  says:  "  Its  water  is  a  common  divinity  to 
all  of  the  Egyptians."  The  monuments  bear  witness  to  the 
same  effect  as  the  ancient  authors,  they  indeed  very  particu- 
larly represent,  that  even  the  kings  paid  divine  honors  to  the 
Nile.  According  toChampollio  n,**  there  is  in  a  chapel 
at  Ghebel  Selseleh  (Silsilis),  a  painting  of  the  time  of  the 
reign  of  Remeses  II,  which  exhibits  this  king,  "offering 
wine  to  the  god  of  the  Nile,  who  in  the  hieroglyphic  inscrip- 
tion, is  called,  Hapi  Moou,  the  life  giving  father  of  all  exist- 
ences."    According  to  the  inscription,  this  chapel  is  specially 

*  Eg.  sur  les  Pharaons,  t.  1.  p.  321. 

t  In  B.  2.  c.  90:  Oi  iQiiQ  avToi  01  Tov  NslXov.     See  Bahr  on  this 


X  Bei  Drumann,  Inschrift  von  Rosetta,  S.  100. 

§  Plut.  de  Is.  et  Osir.  p.  363  D. 

II  Heliodorus,  Aetli.  9.  p.  435.      Athen.  5.  203:    '' jiiyvTCTib  Uv 

M  In  the  Jupiter  Tragoed.  opp.  t.  2.  p.  699.  Edid.  Reitz. 
""*  In  den  Briefer  aus  Egypten,  S.  121,  D.  Uebers. 

10* 


114  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

dedicated  to  this  god.  Remeses  is  called  iii  it,  ''  beloved  of 
Hapi  Moou,  the  father  of  the  gods."  "The  passage  which 
contains  the  praise  of  the  god  of  the  Nile,  represents  him  at 
.the  same  time  as  the  heavenly  Nile,  the  primitive  water,  the 
great  Nilus,  whom  Cicero*  declares  to  be  the  father  of  the 
highest  deities,  even  of  Ammon  ;  and  of  this  I  am  myself  also 
convincedf  from  other  inscriptions  on  the  monuments." 

Yet  far  more  convincing  than  the  knowledge  of  Egyptian 
affairs  which  the  author  exhibits,  is  here  also  the  unpremedi- 
tated manner  in  which  he  exhibits  this  knowledge,  and  the 
want  of  every  explanatory  remark,  resting  upon  the  sup- 
position, that  such  a  thing  is  not  necessary  for  his  immediate 
readers. 

The  Second  Plague — the  Frogs. 
The  account  of  the  second  plague,  the  frogs,  furnishes  us 
far  less  abundant  spoil  than  that  of  the  first.  It  is  implied  in 
-the  account  itself,  in  chap.  8:  5,  that  the  waters  of  Egypt, 
even  in  ordinary  circumstances,  contain  many  frogs ;  and 
from  the  nature  of  these  waters,  we  could  scarcely  imagine 
it  to  be  otherwise.  The  statements  of  travellers  in  regard  to 
this  are,  however,  very  scanty.  Hasselquist|  mentions 
frogs  among  the  Mosaic  plagues  which  even  now  visit  both 
natives  and  foreigners.  According  to  S  o  n  n  i  n  i,§  the  stag- 
nant waters  about  Rosetta  are  filled  with  thousands  of  frogs, 
which  make  very  much  noise.  || 

*  De  nat.  Door. 

i  "  Anaglyphum  in  vico  Karnak  repertuin,"  remarks  Creuzer,  (in 
Comm.  Herod,  p.  212,)  who  also,  pp.  186 — 188,  treats  expressly  of 
the  divine  honors  paid  to  the  Nile,  "  terna  Pharaonis  initia  exhibit. 
Etenim  prinio  loco  sacerdotcs  eum  aspergunt  lustrantque  sacra  unda 
Nili,"  etc.  Compare  also  upon  the  deity  of  the  Nile,  Jabl.  Panth. 
t.  2.  p.  171. 

t  p.  254.  §  Th.  Ill  S.  365. 

II  An  account  of  the  different  kinds  of  frogs  in  Egypt  is  found  in 
the  Descr.  t.  24.  p.  134  seq. 


DESTRUCTION  BY  ANIMALS.  115 

That  a  sudden  appearance  of  animals, — which  though  al- 
ways present  in  a  land,  ordinarily  are  scarcely  noticed  at  all, — 
in  untold  numbers  so  as  to  become  a  plague,  has  not  been 
unknown  in  Egypt  at  other  times,  is  shown  by  what  M  a- 
c  r  i  z  i*  says  of  the  destructions  by  worms :  ''  In  791-2,  the 
worms  which  destroyed  books  and  woollen  cloth,  multiplied 
in  a  wonderful  manner.  A  credible  man  assured  us,  that 
these  animals  ate  1.500  pieces  of  cloth — more  than  fifteen 
camel  loads.  I  was  persuaded  from  what  I  myself  saw,  that 
this  declaration  was  not  exaggerated,  and  that  the  worms 
had  destroyed  in  the  region  of  the  sea,  a  great  quantity  of 
wood  and  cloth.  I  saw  at  Matariah,  garden-walls  which 
were  entirely  pierced  through  by  these  little  animals.  About 
the  year  821,  this  plague  made  its  appearance  in  the  quarter 
of  Hosainiah,  just  out  of  Cairo.  The  worms,  after  they  had 
consumed  provisions,  cloth,  etc.,  which  caused  an  incalcula- 
ble loss  to  the  inhabitants,  seized  upon  the  walls  of  the 
houses,  and  gnawed  the  rafters  until  they  were  pierced  en- 
tirely through.  The  owners  quickly  tore  down  the  buildings 
which  the  worms  had  spared,  so  that  the  quarter  near  was  en- 
tirely laid  waste.  These  animals  carried  their  devastations 
even  to  the  houses  which  stand  hard  by  the  Gate  of  Conquest 
and  Victory." 


The  Third  Plague — the  S31D,  Gnats. 

As  respects  the  third  plague,  it  is  now  generally  agreed, 
that  by  GSD,  kinnim,  gnats  are  meant.  These  are  even  in 
ordinary  years  very  troublesome  in  Egypt.  Herodotus,t 
as  early  as  his  time,  speaks  of  the  great  trouble  which  the 
gnats  cause,  and  of  the  precautions  which  are  taken  to  guard 
against  them.  The  passages  in  modern  travellers  are  collected 
in  O  e  d  m  a  n  n,j: — according  to  the  testimony  of  M  a  i  1 1  e  t 

*  In  Quatremcre,  t.  1.  p.  121.  f  B.  2.  c.  195.         ;  I.  S.  74  ff. 


116  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

and  Pococke,  they  often  darken  the  air  in  Cairo, — 
in  H  a  r  t  m  a  n  n,*  and  last  inEichhorn.t  Hartmann 
comprises  the  results  in  the  following  words :  '*  All  travellers 
speak  of  these  gnats  as  an  ordinary  plague  of  the  country. 
In  cool  weather  they  are  especially  bold.  They  pursue  the 
men,  prevent  them  from  eating,  disturb  their  sleep,  and  cause 
swellings  which  are  sensibly  painful.  What  S  o  n  n  i  n  i|  says 
of  these  gnats,  in  his  account  of  his  abode  in  Rosetta,  is  of 
peculiar  interest:  ''It  is  asserted  that  the  multitude  of  gnats, 
with  which  the  streets  and  the  inside  of  the  houses  were  then 
filled,  owe  their  origin  to  this  employment  (the  drying  of  rice 
about  the  end  of  October).  Indeed,  there  are  fewer  of  them 
at  other  times.  After  the  rice  harvest,  they  go  forth  in  mul- 
titudes from  the  overflowed  fields  in  which  the  preceding 
generation  laid  their  eggs.  They  come  to  trouble  men,  they 
make  wounds,  in  order  to  suck  their  blood,  not  less  burning 
than  those  of  the  Maringonins  of  South  America."  These 
passages  show  that  the  time  of  the  extraordinary  public  ca- 
lamities corresponded  merely  to  that  of  the  extraordinary 
plague.  The  first  plague,  the  changing  of  water  to  blood, 
transfers  us  to  the  period  of  the  increase  of  the  Nile,  the 
gnats  begin  to  multiply  at  the  end  of  the  inundation. 

The  Fourth  Plague — the  Flies. 

The  animals  which  constitute  the  fourth  plague  are  desig- 
nated by  nn:? ,  aroh.  This  word  originally  can  scarcely  have 
any  other  signification  than  the  mingling^  but  it  was  second- 
arily applied  to  a  distinct  species  of  animals,  which  in  Egypt 
especially  compose  the  vermin  or  insects.  That  they  were 
flies  is  argued:  1.  From  the  authority  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  translates  nny ,  by  dog-fly,  Kvvo(xv'Ca.  2.  From  the 
appropriate  connection  of  gnats  and  flies.  3.  From  the  fact 
that  flies  belong  to  the  common  inconveniences  of  Egypt. 

*S.  250.  IS.  17,18.  JTh.  1.  S.  246. 


THE  DOG-FLY  IN  EGYPT.  117 

How  troublesome  flies  are  in  Egypt  even  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, is  most  clearly  shown  by  the  description  of  S  o  n- 
n  ini:*  "  The  most  numerous  and  troublesome  insects  in 
Egypt  are  the  flies  (musca  domesticaL.)  Men  and  animals 
are  grievously  tormented  by  them.  It  is  impossible  to  form  an 
adequate  conception  of  their  fury  when  they  wish  to  fix  them- 
selves upon  any  part  of  the  body.  If  they  are  driven  away, 
they  light  again  the  same  instant,  and  their  pertinacity  wea- 
ries the  most  patient.  They  especially  love  to  light  in  the 
corners  of  the  eyes,  or  on  the  edge  of  the  eyelids,  sensitive 
parts  to  which  they  are  attracted  by  a  slight  moisture."  The 
description  of  the  dog-fly  by  P  h  i  1  of  is,  for  substance,  en- 
tirely in  accordance  with  this  account.  By  this  name  in- 
sects incredibly  monstrous  are  often  designated.  Aside  from 
a  little  exaggeration,  it  is  impossible  to  disbelieve  in  P  hil  o. 
The  name,  dog-fly,  is  probably  chosen  to  distinguish  these 
insects  from  another  very  widely  diffused  species  of  flies, 
which  is  smaller  and  less  troublesome.^  A  b  d  o  1 1  a  t  i  p  h§ 
says  :  "  In  consequence  of  the  great  dampness  of  the  air,  bugs, 
flies  and  fleas  continue  here  a  great  part  of  the  year."  In 
Jomard,|l  just  as  here,  flies  and  gnats  are  associated  to- 
gether, as  plagues  of  Egypt :  "The  remark  also  that  these 
cold  seasons  free  the  land  from  the  plague  of  innumerable 
flies  and  gnats,  whose  bites  are  so  troublesome  and  painful." 

As  the  threatened  plague  made  its  appearance,  Pharaoh 
caused  Moses  and  Aaron  to  be  called  and  said  to  them  : 
"  Sacrifice  to  your  God  in  the  land."  But  Moses  answer- 
ed:  "  It  is  not  meet  to  do  so ;  for  we  shall  sacrifice  the  abom- 
ination of  the  Egyptians  to  the  Lord  our  God.  If  we  sacrifice 
the  abomination  of  the  Egyptians  before  their  eyes,  will  they 
not  stone  us  ?"  Ex.  chap.  8:  22(26).  That  there  is  here  a 
reference  to  Egyptian  customs  has  always  been  acknowledged. 


*  Th.  3.  S.  226.  t  See  in  proof  of  this  Michaelis  Suppl.  p.  1960, 

t  Sonnini,  S.  227.  §  p.  5.  De  Sacy. 

II  In  the  Descr.  t.  18.  p.  2  512. 


118  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

According  to  the  common  theory,  the  very  bitter  exasperation 
to  be  apprehended  by  the  Israelites  from  the  Egyptians,  was 
because  the  latter  sacrificed  animals  which  the  former  consid- 
ered sacred.  But  there  are  two  arguments  against  this  supposi- 
tion: I.  The  designation,  abomination,  is  not  appropriate  to  the 
consecrated  animals.  This  indicates  that  the  animals  which 
the  Israelites  slaughtered  were  not  too  good,  but  too  bad  for 
offerings.  2.  The  animals  which  were  commonly  taken  among 
the  Israelites  for  offerings  were  also  among  the  Egyptians  not 
sacred.  The  only  one  of  the  larger  domestic  animals  which 
was  generally  considered  as  sacred,  the  cow,*  was  also  among 
the  Israelites  except  in  the  casein  Num.  xix,  which  is  entirely 
by  itself,  not  offered.  The  animals  most  commonly  sacrificed,^ 
oxen,  were  also  both  sacrificed  and  eaten  by  the  Egyptians. 

The  offence  is  rather  that  the  Israelites  omit  the  inquiry 
concerning  the  cleanness  of  animals,  which  is  practised  with 
the  greatest  caution  by  the  Egyptians.  That  only  clean 
animals  were  sacrificed  by  the  Egyptians,  Herodotus 
says,  in  2.  45,  where  he  acquits  the  Egyptians  from  the  im- 
putation of  offering  human  sacrifices  :  "  For  since  they  are 
not  allowed  to  sacrifice  any  animals  except  the  swine  and 
the  bullock,  and  calves,  namely,  those  that  are  clean  among 
them,  and  the  goose,  how  can  they  offer  men  ?"  What  stress 
is  laid  upon  cleanness,  and  how  truly  it  is  considered  as 
an  abomination  to  offer  an  unclean  animal,  is  seen  from 
H  e  r  o  d  o  t  u  s.t  Only  a  red  ox  could  be  offered,  and  a  single 
black  hair  rendered  it  unclean.  They  also  placed  dependence 
upon  a  multitude  of  marks  besides  this;  the  tongue  and  tail 
were  accurately  examined,  etc.  Each  victim  must,  after  a 
prescribed  examination  in  confirmation  of  its  fitness,  be  sealed 
on  the  horns.  To  offer  an  unsealed  ox  was  prohibited  on 
penalty  of  death.| 

**  Compare  Herod.  B.  2.  c.  41.     Heeren,  S.  363. 

t  B.  2.  c.  38.     See  also  Bahr  on  the  passage. 

t  The  intolerant  fanaticism  of  the  Egyptians,  which  the  answer  of 


THE  BOILS  OF  EGYPT.  1 19 


Fifth  Plague — the  Destruction  of  the  Animals  in  Egypt. 

In  reference  to  the  fifth  plague,  the  destruction  of  the  cattle, 
there  is  not  much  to  be  said,  since  travellers  have  bestowed 
little  attention  upon  the  diseases  of  animals  in  Egypt.  Only 
single  scattered  passages  are  found  in  the  Description,  and 
these  indeed  very  general,  so  that  it  cannot  be  determined 
whether  diseases  make  their  appearance  in  Egypt,  by  which 
all  kinds  of  the  larger  domestic  animals  are  seized  in  like 
manner.  It  is  said*  that  murrain  breaks  out  from  time  to 
time  in  Egypt  with  so  much  severity  that  they  are  compelled 
to  send  to  Syria  or  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  for  a  new 
supply  of  oxen.  It  is  also  said,f  since  about  the  year  1786 
a  disease  very  much  diminished  the  number  of  oxen,  they 
began  to  make  use  of  the  buffalo  in  their  place  for  watering 
the  fields,  and  the  practice  is  continued  in  later  times. 

That  in  the  enumeration  of  the  animals  on  which  the  plague 
shall  seize,  chap,  ix,  horses  are  assigned  the  first  place,  and 
that  too  without  further  remark,  is  again  one  of  the  little  things, 
which  in  such  an  inquiry  as  the  one  before  us,  is  of  so  great 
importance,  so  soon  as  the  scattered  items  are  collected, 
and  thereby  rescued  from  the  contingency  to  which  each  is 
subject. 

The  sixth  Plague — the  Boils. 

That  the  sixth  plague,  the  boils,  was  miraculous  only  in 
extent,  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  Deut.  28:  27,  where  the 

Moses  implies,  is  also  proved  from  other  sources.  Herodotus  says,  in 
B.  2.  c.  65  :  "  If  any  person  kills  one  of  these  animals  intentionally, 
he  expiates  his  crime  by  death ;  if  unintentionally,  he  must  pay 
the  fine  which  the  priest  imposes.  But  whoever  kills  an  ibis  or  a 
hawk,  whether  intentionally  or  not,  must  die." 

*  Descr.  t.  17.  p.  126.  f  Descr.  p.  62 


120  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

same  disease  under  the  name  o^  boils  of  Egypt  is  represented  as 
of  common  occurrence  there.  But  a  more  exact  defining  of 
the  nature  of  this  sickness  is  difficult.  Rosenmueller* 
considers  it  the  elephantiasis  which,  according  to  Lucre- 
t  i  u  st  aud  P  1  i  n  y,j:  was  peculiar  to  Egypt.  But  the  appellation 
boil§  does  not  seem  to  be  proper  for  this  disease,  still  less 
the  expression,  "breaking  out  in  blains"  in  Ex.  9:  9.  Besides, 
the  elephantiasis  does  not  attack  cattle.  E  i  c  h  h  o  r  n  appeals 
to  a  remark  in  Grange r|l  (Tourtechot):  *'In  autumn 
sores  come  upon  the  thighs  and  knees,  which  remove  the  pa- 
tient in  two  or  three  days."  These  notices  seem  however  to 
have  reference  to  the  plague,  but  it  is  uncertain  whether  this 
malady  existed  so  anciently,  and  indeed  it  does  not  answer 
the  circumstances,  for  the  reference  is  evidently  to  a  very 
painful,  but  not  absolutely,  dangerous  sickness.  Only  a  dis- 
ease attended  by  feverish  cutaneous  eruptions  can  be  meant, 
one  which  amid  the  variety  of  diseases  does  not  easily  admit  of 
definition.  But  the  destruction  which  small-pox  and  plague 
makes  in  Egypt,  shows  how  very  much  the  climate  there 
disposes  to  such  diseases.  We  are  almost  disposed  to  think 
of  a  disease  which  T  h  e  v  e  n  o  t  describes  :  "  There  is  be- 
sides," he  says,  "  a  sickness,  or  rather  inconvenience,  for  it 
is  more  inconvenient  than  dangerous,  which  makes  its  ap- 
pearance when  the  waters  of  the  Nile  begin  to  rise.  Then 
hot  pustules  which  are  very  troublesome,  and  sting  terribly, 
appear  upon  the  whole  body,  and  when  the  patient  thinks  to 
comfort  and  refresh  himself  with  drink,  he  feels  while  drinking, 
and  afterwards,  stings  as  painful  as  if  he  were  pierced  with 
two  hundred  needles  all  at  once."^     But  this  disease  which 

*  Upon  Deut.  28:  27.  t  B.  6.  112-13. 

+  He  calls  it  in  book  26,  c.  5  :  Aegypti  peculiare  malum. 

§  vn^  from  -ji-ro  ,   in  the  dialects,  incaluit,  inflammatus  est. 

II  Voyage  de  I'Egypte,  p.  21. 

H  Voyage  du  Levant,  L.  II.  c.  80,  p.  831. 


THUNDER  IN  EGYPT,  121 

Thevenot,  perhaps,  described  with  some  exaggeration,* 
cannot  be  meant,  since  pustules  are  not  referred  to,  but  a 
sore  ;  and  this  disease  is  not  the  object  of  the  curse  as  our  sick- 
ness appears  to  be  in  Deut.  chap,  xxviii.  Besides  the  lan- 
guage in  Deut.  28:  35,  "  With  sore  botch  which  cannot  be 
healed,"  is  not  appropriate  to  the  disease,  as  well  as  what  is 
related  in  the  passage  before  us,  that  the  magicians  are  not 
able  to  stand,  and  the  cattle  no  less  th:in  men  were  attacked 
with  it.  See  upon  diseases  which  are  common  to  men  and 
animals,  M  ay  ner's  Anthropology. f 


The  seventh  Plague—the   Tempest. 

The  seventh  plague  was  a  severe  tempest  attended  with  hail 
and  rain.  In  the  narrative  itself,  Ch.  9:  18, 24,  it  is  said  that  the 
phenomenon  was  unexampled  only  in  degree,  and  it  is  implied 
that  it  is  not  uncommon  in  Egypt  in  a  milder  form.  Other  ac- 
counts agree  with  ours  in  showing  that  tempests  in  Egypt  are 
not  unfrequent,  and  that  they  in  general  differ  from  the  one  un- 
der consideration,  only  in  severity.  These  notices  are  expla- 
natory of  our  account  in  so  much  as  they  represent  that  tem- 
pests are  most  abundant  just  at  the  time  in  which,  according  to 
verse  31,  the  tempest  here  described  occurred.  The  accounts 
of  ancient  travellers  concerning  tempests  in  Egypt,  in  January 
and  March,  are  found  carefully  collected  in  Nordmey erj 
and  especially  inHartmann:§  "Mansleben  and  M  a  n- 
cony  s  heard  it  thunder  during  their  stay  at  Alexandria,  the 
former  on  the  1st  of  January  and  the  latter  on  the  17th  and 
18th  of  the  same  month;  on  the  same  days  it  also  hailed 
there.  Perry]]  also  remarks  that  it  hails,  though  seldom, 
in  January  and  February  at  Cairo.     An  account  in  the  No- 


*  See  other  authors  upon  this  same  blotch  in  Hartmann,  S.  59 
t  Th.  2.  S.  279. 

X  Calendarium  Aeg.  Oecon.  p.  11,  12,  20,  27.  §  S.  41 

IJ  p.  255. 

11 


122  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tices*  bears  witness  to  the  occurrence  of  the  same  thing  in 
February.  Pococke  even  saw  hail  mingled  with  rain  fall 
at  Fium  in  February  ;  compare  Exodus  9:  34.  K  o  r  t  e  also 
saw  hail  fall.  B  r  u  c  et  heard  in  Cossir  during  the  roaring  of 
the  winds  through  the  whole  of  February,  also  afterwards  on 
the  Arabian  Gulf,  the  crash  of  thunder.  In  March  tempests 
are  not  uncommon  at  Cairo."  During  Thevenot's  resi- 
dence in  Egypt  a  tempest  discharged  itself,  killing  a  man.| 
The  residence  of  the  scholars  of  the  French  expedition  in 
Egypt,  was  not  continued  long  enough  to  make  complete 
observations  of  this  kind.  Du  Bois  Ayme§  affirms  that 
during  the  two  years  which  he  spent  in  Egypt,  he  did  not  hear 
a  clap  of  thunder  but  once,  and  that  was  so  faint  that  several 
persons  with  him  did  not  notice  it.  CoutelleU  says: 
"  Natural  phenomena  succeed  each  other  in  this  land  with  a 
constant  uniformity.  The  same  winds  return  regularly  at 
the  same  time,  and  continue  equally  long.  In  the  Delta  it 
does  not  rain  at  all  in  summer  and  scarcely  at  all  in  winter. 
We  have  very  seldom  seen  it  rain  in  Cairo.  Rain  in  Upper 
Egypt  is  a  wonder.  A  higher  temperature  than  that  desig- 
nated below,  a  harder  frost,  and  more  copious  rains  are 
extraordinary  occurrences."  J  o  m  a  r  d^  upon  the  climate  of 
Cairo  says :  "  Rain  falls  by  no  means  so  seldom  in  Egypt 
as  is  commonly  asserted.  First  of  all.  Lower  Egypt  must 
evidently  be  excepted,  as  it  covers  a  much  more  extended 
surface  than  the  rest  of  the  country,  and  lies  where  its  greater 
or  less  proximity  to  the  sea  produces  a  more  variable  climate 
than  that  of  Said.  All  phenomena  with  the  exception  of  hail 
and  snow  follow  there  as  in  other  countries,  which  are  washed 
by  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  I  have  several  times  seen  even  hail 
at  Alexandria.     At  Cairo  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  begins 


M.260.  +  1.267(?),H.  117.  J  I:  344. 

§  I.e.  p.  Ki."). 

II  In  Obss.  Meteoiologiquos  in  the  Descr.  t.  19.  p.  457. 
1[  In  Descr.  18.  2.  p.  510  seq. 


KINDS  OF  GRAIN  IN  EGYPT.  1SJ3 

to  be  more  settled,  and  in  Upper  Egypt,  it  is  almost  invaria- 
ble." 

The  account  of  this  plague  comprises  also  other  separate 
but  very  striking  references  to  Egypt.  One  is  found,  first, 
in  chap  9:  19,  where  Moses  says  to  Pharaoh  :  *'  Send  there- 
fore now  and  gather  thy  cattle  and  all  that  thou  hast  in  the 
field ;  for  upon  every  man  and  beast  which  shall  be  found  in 
the  field  and  shall  not  be  brought  home,  the  hail  shall  come 
down,  and  they  shall  die."  According  to  this  verse,  the 
cattle  were  not  found  in  the  stall  but  in  the  field,  when  the 
tempest  commenced;  verse  31  confirms  this  fact.  With  this 
agrees  accurately  our  other  accounts, — an  agreement  so 
much  the  more  sigificant,  since  the  time  that  the  cattle  were 
turned  out  was  so  short.  N  ie  b  u  h  r*  says:  "  In  the  months 
January,  February,  March  and  April  the  cattle  graze, 
whereas  during  the  remaining  months  they  must  be  supplied 
with  dry  fodder."  The  author  of  the  Egyptian  calendar! 
shows  the  same  thing.  Also  according  to  the  Description, J 
the  cattle  get  green  food  only  four  months  of  the  year,  the 
rest  of  the  time,  dried  fodder. 

Not  less  important  is  the  parenthetical  remark  of  the 
author  in  chap.  9:  31 ,  32 :  "And  the  flax  and  the  barley  were 
smitten  ;  for  the  barley  was  in  the  ear  and  the  flax  was  boiled. 
But  the  wheat  and  the  spelt  were  not  smitten,  for  these  come 
to  maturity  later."  In  surveying  what  was  destroyed  and 
what  was  to  be  destroyed  in  case  of  persevering  obstinacy, 
there  is  here  named  :  First,  the  products  on  which  the  weal 
and  woe  of  ancient  Egypt  depended.  Compare  respecting 
spelt  as  one  of  the  most  important  products  of  ancient  Egypt, 
the  corn  from  which  they  prepared  their  bread,  Herodotus, § 
with  the  remarks  of  B  a  h  r.     There  are  representations  of  the 

^  Reisebeschr.  I.  S.  142. 

t  In  the  Notices  et  Extraits,  t.  1.  p.  252.  See  also  Nordmeyer,  p. 
17  ;  Hartmann,  S.  232  ;  Le  Bruyn,  I.  570. 

i  Tom.  17.  p.  126.  §  B.  2.  c.  36,  and  also  c.  77, 


124         EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

flax  harvest  in  Rosel  1  i  n  i.*  The  cultivation  of  the  Dur- 
rah,  from  which  the  bread  is  made,  upon  which  the  common 
people  for  the  most  part  live,  is  recent  in  Egypt.!  Of  the 
cultivation  of  rice  there  is  scarcely  a  single  certain  trace 
found,  and  it  cannot  at  least  have  been  general.}:  Secondly, 
The  author  shows  the  most  accurate  knowledge  of  the  time 
of  the  harvest  in  Egypt.  Flax  and  barley  are  nearly  ripe, 
when  wheat  and  spelt  are  yet  green.  Theophrastus§ 
and  P  1  i  n  y II  say  :  In  Egypt  barley  was  harvested  in  the  sixth 
month  after  sowing,  wheat  in  the  seventh  month.  Son- 
nini,^  after  remarking  that  with  the  cultivation  of  wheat, 
that  of  barley  is  very  important,  says  :  ^'  It  comes  to  matu- 
rity about  a  month  earlier  than  wheat,  and  its  harvest  is 
especially  abundant."  Wheat  and  spelt  come  to  maturity  at 
about  the  same  time.**  Flax  and  barley  were  generally  ripe 
in  March,  wheat  and  spelt  in  April.  Such  circumstances  are 
not  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  a  mythic  historian. 

The  eighth  Plague — the  Locusts. 

The  narrative  itself  indicates,  Ch.  10: 6, 14,  that  the  animals, 
which  constituted  the  eighth  plague  the  locusts,  were  at  other 
times  somewhat  common  in  Egypt,  and  that  only  the  abun- 
dance of  them  was  unprecedented.  Other  accounts  also  con- 
firm this  fact.  H  a  r  t  m  a  n  ntt  has  collected  the  notices  of  an- 
cient travellers,  among  whom  Norden|J  has  particularly 
described  what  he  saw  in  the  following  words :  "  In  common 
with  Syria  and  other  regions  of  Asia,  Egypt  suffers  from  the 
locusts,  yet  no  account  can  be  found  of  their  producing  such 
terrible  desolation  here  as  in  Syria,  Arabia,"  etc.     But  of  espe- 

*  Vol.  II.  p.  333  seq. 

t  De  Sacy  upon  Abd.  p.  120.  t  Sonnini,  I.  S.  251  ff. 

§8.3.  II  Id  7.  irTh.  2.  p.261. 

**  See  Hartinann,  S.  207.  tt  S.  24!).  tt  S.  119. 


LOCUSTS  AND  THE  CHAMSIN.  125 

cial  interest  is  D  e  n  o  n'  s*  account  of  a  flight  of  locusts  ob- 
served by  him  :  "  Two  days  after  this  calamity,  (they  had  been 
suddenly  overtaken  by  a  heavy  chamsin)  we  were  informed  that 
the  plain  was  covered  with  birds,  which  flew  in  dense  flocks 
from  east  to  west.  We  in  fact  saw  from  a  distance,  that 
the  fields  seemed  to  move,  or  at  least  that  a  long  current 
flowed  through  the  plain.  Supposing  that  they  were  strange 
birds  which  had  flown  hither,  in  such  great  numbers,  we 
hastened  our  pace  in  order  to  observe  them.  But  instead  of 
birds,  we  found  a  cloud  of  locusts  which  made  the  land  bald ; 
for  they  stopped  upon  each  stalk  of  grass  in  order  to  devour 
it  and  then  flew  further  for  spoil.  At  a  time  of  the  year 
when  the  corn  is  tender,  they  would  have  been  a  real  plague  ; 
as  lean,  as  efficient  and  as  lively  as  the  Arab  Bedawin,  they 
are  also  a  production  of  the  desert.  After  the  wind  had 
changed  its  course,  so  as  to  blow  directly  against  them,  it 
swept  them  back  into  the  desert." 

This  account  presents  a  striking  agreement  with  ours,  in 
three  particulars  :  1.  In  both  passages,  the  locusts  and  cham- 
sin appear  in  immediate  connection  with  each  other.  2.  In 
both  the  flight  is  from  east  to  west,  which  is  even  so  much 
the  more  worthy  of  remark,  since  some,  as  recently  v. 
B  o  h  1  e  n,f  have  imputed  it  to  the  author,  as  a  fault,  that  he 
represents  the  locusts  as  coming  with  the  east  wind.  3. 
In  both,  the  locusts,  by  a  change  of  the  wind,  are  driven 
back  whence  they  came. 


The  ninth  Plague — the  Darkness^ 

In  the  ninth  plague,  the  darkness,  it  is  scarcely  possible 
to  mistake  the  similarity  to  natural  phenomena,  since  it  has 
many  other  characteristic   traits  besides   the  one  rendered 

*Vol.   I.  p.  287,  London  Edition. 
f  Compare  page  8  seq.  of  this  volume. 
11* 


126  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

most  conspicuous  here.  The  partial  prominence  given  to 
the  darkness  in  this  plague  is  explained  from  the  symbolic 
significance,  which  the  occurrence  has  in  this  particular.  The 
darkness  which  overshadowed  Egypt,  and  the  light  which 
shone  upon  the  Israelites,  were  symbols  of  God's  anger  and 
favor.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  foundation  in  nature 
for  this  ninth  plague  is  to  be  sought  in  the  chamsin,  whose 
efifects  in  a  higher  or  lower  degree,  all  travellers  who  have 
visited  Egypt,  have  experienced. 

Hartmann*  has  collected  what  is  said  by  ancient  au- 
thors. "  The  inhabitants  of  the  cities  and  villages,"  it  is 
there  said,  "shut  themselves  up  in  the  lowest  apartments 
of  their  houses  and  cellars  ;f  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  desert 
go  into  their  tents  or  into  the  holes  which  they  have  dug  in 
the  ground.|  There  they  await,  full  of  anxiety,  the  termination 
of  this  kind  of  tempest,  which  generally  lasts  three  days. 
The  roads  during  this  time  are  entirely  vacant,  and  deep 
stillness,  as  of  the  night,  reigns  everywhere." 

Among  modern  writers  we  first  refer  to  D  u  Bo  is 
A  y  m  e,v,  who  compares  the  Mosaic  darkness  to  the  chamsin. 
The  phenomena  of  the  latter  he  describes  in  the  following 
manner :  ''  When  the  chamsin  blows  the  sun  is  pale  yellow, 
its  light  is  obscured,  and  the  darkness  is  sometimes  so  great, 
that  one  seems  to  be  in  the  blackest  night,  as  we  experienced 
in  the  middle  of  the  day  at  Cene,  a  city  of  Said."  A 
second  description  we  quote  from  S  on  n  i  n  i  :||  *'  The  at- 
mosphere," he  says,  "  was  heated  and  at  the  same  time  ob- 
scured by  clouds  of  dust ;  the  thermometer  of  Reaumur  stood 
at  27  degrees.  Men  and  animals  breathed  only  vapor,  and 
that  was  heated  and  mingled  with  a  fine  and  hot  sand. 
Plants  drooped,  and  all  living  nature  languished.  This  wind 
also  continued  the  tw^enty-seventh  ;  it  appeared  to  me  to  have 


*  S.  46  ff.  t  Volney.  |  Pococke 

§p.  110.  II  Th.  3.  p.  35  ff. 


THE    CHAMSIN.  127 

even  increased  in  force.  The  air  was  dark  on  account  of  a 
thick  mist  of  fine  dust  as  red  as  flame."  But  of  special  im- 
portance for  our  object  is  the  description  of  De  n  o  n  :*  "  On 
the  eighteentli  of  May  in  the  evening,  I  felt  as  if  I  should 
perish  from  the  suffocating  heat.  All  motion  of  the  air 
seemed  to  have  ceased.  As  I  went  to  the  Nile  to  bathe,  for 
the  relief  of  my  painful  sensations,  I  was  astonished  by  a  new 
sight.  Such  light  and  such  colors  I  had  never  seen.  The 
sun,  without  being  veiled  with  clouds,  had  been  shorn  of  its 
beams.  It  gave  only  a  white  and  shadowless  light,  more 
feeble  than  the  moon.  The  water  reflected  not  its  rays,  and 
appeared  disturbed. — Everything  assumed  another  appear- 
ance ;  the  air  was  darker,  a  yellow  horizon  caused  the  trees  to 
appear  of  a  pale  blue.  Flocks  of  birds  fluttered  about  before 
the  clouds.  The  frightened  animals  ran  about  in  the  fields, 
and  the  inhabitants  who  followed  them  with  their  cries  could 
not  collect  them.  The  wind,  which  had  raised  immense 
clouds  of  dust  and  rolled  them  along  before  itself,  had  not 
yet  reached  us.  We  thought  that  if  we  went  into  the  water, 
which  at  this  moment  was  quiet,  we  should  avoid  this  mass 
of  dust  which  was  driven  towards  us  from  the  south-west ; 
but  we  were  scarcely  in  the  river,  when  it  began  suddenly  to 
swell  as  if  it  would  overflow  its  banks.  The  waves  broke 
over  us,  and  the  ground  heaved  under  our  feet.  Our  gar- 
ments flew  away  when  seized  by  the  whirlwind,  which  had 
now  reached  us.  We  were  compelled  to  go  to  land.  Wet 
and  beaten  by  the  wind,  we  were  soon  surrounded  by  a  ridge 
of  sand.  A  reddish,  dusky  appearance  filled  the  region  ; 
with  wounded  eyes,  and  nose  so  filled  that  we  could  hardly 
breathe,  we  strayed  from  one  another,  lost  our  way,  and  found 
our  dwellings  with  great  difficulty,  feeling  along  by  the  walls. 
Then,  we  sensibly  felt  how  terrible  the  condition  must  be, 
when  one  is  overtaken  by  such  a  wind  in  the  desert.     On  the 

Vol.  I.  285. 


128  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

following  morning  the  same  cloud  of  dust  was  driven,  in  like 
circumstances,  along  the  Lybian  desert.  It  followed  the 
mountain  range,  and  when  we  believed  ourselves  free  from  it, 
the  west  wind  turned  it  back.  Lightnings  shot  feebly  through 
these  dark  clouds ;  all  the  elements  appeared  to  be  in  com- 
motion ;  the  rain  mingled  with  the  lightning  gleams,  with 
wind  and  dust ;  everything  seemed  to  be  returning  to  chaos 
and  old  night."* 

The  severity  of  the  chamsin  is  very  different  in  different 
years. t  Dschemaleddin  describes  in  the  Chronicle 
quoted  by  Rosenmueller  in  his  Commentary,  cases 
which  seen  merely  in  general,  are  considerably  like  those 
with  which  we  are  concerned.  In  reference  to  the  one  which" 
took  place  in  the  eleventh  century,  it  is  said  :  "  There  occur- 
red a  great  and  violent  storm,  accompanied  by  darkness ; 
edifices  were  destroyed  and  houses  demolished  ;  moreover  at 
the  same  time  Egypt  was  covered  with  so  thick  a  darkness 
that  all  believed  that  the  resurrection  had  come."  In  the  ac- 
count of  another  wind  of  this  kind  in  the  twelfth  century, 
he  says  :  "  There  occurred  such  a  darkness  in  Egypt  that 
the  whole  air  was  obscured  with  dimness,  at  the  same  time 
there  arose  so  heavy  a  wind,  that  the  men  all  expected  the 
resurrection." 

The  time  in  which  the  three  days'  darkness  falls  is  just  that 
in  which  the  chamsin  generally  blows.| 

The  tenth  Plague — the  Death  of  the  First-horn  of  the 
Egyptians. 

It  may  be  proper  to  remark  here,  before  we  proceed  with 
the  tenth  plague,  that  the  phrase  *'  all  of  the  first-born"  must 
not  be  pressed  too  far.§     The  whole  tenor  of  the  narrative  is 

*  See  other  descriptions  in  Mayr,  Reise,  S.  245,  and  in  Michaud, 
Th.  7.  S.  11. 

t  Hartmann,  S.  'A.  \  Hartmann,  S.  47.  §  See  p.  109 


EPIDEMICS  IN  EGYPT.  129 

opposed  to  such  a  proceeding,  and  particularly  the  declara- 
tion :  "There  was  no  house  where  there  was  not  one  dead," 
in  chap.  12:  30  ;  since  in  every  house  there  was  not  a  first- 
born. It  must  not  be  inferred  that  none  of  the  first-born  re- 
mained alive  in  the  land,  or  that  none  besides  the  first-born 
died.* 

If  we  take  into  view  the  time  in  which  the  last  plague, 
the  destruction  of  the  first-born  occurs,  and  farther  also  that 
it  follows  immediately  the  chamsin,  we  cannot  deny  that  we 
find  something  analogous  to  it  in  a  pestilence  described  by 
M  i  n  u  tol  i.t  It  is  not  material,  whether  it  be  allowed  that 
the  plague  raged  at  so  early  a  period,  or  that  another  similar- 
ly destructive  disease  existed  in  its  place.  The  plague,  he 
says,  commonly  makes  its  appearance  at  Cairo  about  the  end 
of  March,  or  at  the  beginning  of  April.  The  miasma  is  com- 
municated merely  by  contact.  Local  causes,  however,  increase 
its  malignancy,  and  even  the  prevailing  winds  have  an  im- 
portant influence.  With  an  uninterrupted  chamsin  the  plague 
increases  frightfully,  and  speedily  takes  off  those  who  are  at- 
tacked by  it. 

Legh  also  gives  a  similar  account :  "A  salutary  influence 
(on  the  pestilence  then  raging)  was  also  expected  from  the 
Nokia,  or  the  rise  of  the  Nile  which  begun  on  the  eighteenth 
of  June.  The  unhealthiness  of  the  season  of  the  year  pre- 
ceding this  month  is  ascribed  to  the  chamsin,  or  the  wind 
from  the  desert,  which  commonly  begins  to  blow  about  Eas- 
ter-Monday and  continues  fifty  days,  and  to  the  stagnant  con- 
dition of  the  Nile.  This  notion  is  so  settled  among  the 
Arabs  that  they  are  accustomed  when  it  ceases  to  congratu- 


*  The  account  of  an  especially  destructive  plague  in  Egypt,  in  the 
Description,  t.  15.  p.  180,  may  be  compared  :  "  Howls  and  shrieks 
were  heard  in  every  house  ;  funeral  processions  met  one  at  every  step. 
Several  dead  bodies  were  oftentimes  put  together  on  the  same  bier, 
and  I  saw  men  who  bore  them,  give  over  their  burden  to  others  and 
lie  down  upon  the  ground  with  all  the  symptoms  of  the  plague." 

t  S.  224. 


130  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

late  each  other  on  account  of  having  survived  this  period. — 
The  two  or  three  months  before  the  summer  solstice  are  es- 
teemed so  unhealthy,  that  it  is  said,  that  the  plague  always 
rages  during  this  time,  even  in  Cairo.  During  the  same  pe- 
riod the  sraall-pox  is  also  very  dangerous."*  Compare  also 
the  Description,!  where  in  accounting  for  this  sickness  it  is 
imputed  mainly  to  the  chamsin,  and  it  is  remarked  that  great 
inundations  which  leave  numerous  morasses,  always  precede 
destructive  epidemics. 

That  the  Egyptians  are  swept  off  by  an  epidemic  is  indeed 
probable,  and  much  more  than  probable,  from  chap.  9:  15. 
What  the  Lord  there  says  he  had  long  been  able  to  do,  that, 
he  now  really  does;  since  the  reasons  here  given  in  verse  16,- 
which,  until  now,  have  prevented  him  from  proceeding  to 
this  last  resource,  have  now  ceased;  since,  in  short,  he  has 
by  a  series  of  acts  sufficiently  unfolded  his  omnipotence  and 
grace. 

For  the  sparing  of  the  Israelites,  certain  things  in  nature 
analogous  may  be  referred  to,  but  they  by  no  means  serve  to 
obscure  the  divine  favor  in  the  preservation,  since  this  divine 
favor  insured  nothing  less  than  absolute  safety.  Here  may 
be  quoted,  first,  what  Minutoli  says  in  reference  to  the 
plague:  "It  is  remarkable  that  fear  increases  the  suscepti- 
bility to  it,  but  fearlessness  protects  against  it."  Further, 
what  Prokesch|  says  of  the  Egyptian  Bedawy,  is  ap- 
propriate here:  "His  health  is  unalterably  good.  Some 
ascribe  the  disease  of  the  eyes  in  Egypt,  which  rages  among 
the  Fellahs,  and  even  in  the  cities,  to  the  dew  and  dust  of 
the  desert.  But  the  Bedawy  sleeps  in  the  open  air,  and 
ranges  from  desert  to  desert,  and  this  pest  has  never  spread 
among  these  tribes."  With  this  agrees  what  M  i  c  h  a  u  d 
says :  §     "  The    Bedawin    are   in   general    very  temperate. 

'^  Reise  in  Aeg.  D.  Weim.  1818.  S.  142.  t  1. 15,  p.  179. 

?  Erinnerungen,  Th.  2.  p.  244.  §  Th.  7.  p.  29. 


ANALOGY  OF  NATURE.  '  131 

They  have  no  physicians  and  little  sickness.  The  disease 
of  the  eyes,  which  is  so  prevalent  an  evil  in  Egypt,  is  almost 
unknown  in  the  desert.  The  plague  seldom  extends  its  ra- 
vages among  them." 

Those  who  are  disposed  to  take  offence  at  the  analogies  in 
nature,  which  we  have  adduced  for  the  plagues,  are  referred, 
first,  to  what  we  have  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter, 
concerning  the  miraculous  character  of  these  occurrences, 
notwithstanding  the  analogy  of  nature.  They  are  also  re- 
minded, that  it  cannot  be  denied  that  similar  analogies  are 
generally  allowed  to  exist  in  relation  to  the  wonders  of  the 
desert,  the  manna  and  the  quails.  But  we  wish  the  advo- 
cates of  the  mythic  interpretation  of  the  Pentateuch  to  know, 
that  precisely  that  part  of  it  which  appears  to  them  the 
strongest  bulwark  for  their  view,  is  most  decidedly  opposed 
to  it. 


132  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

EXODUS,   Chapters  XIV  and  XV. 

The  Military  Force  of  the  Egyptians. 

In  our  section  on  the  references  of  the  Pentateuch  to  the 
geographical  features  of  Egypt,  we  have  spoken  of  some 
things  which  come  within  the  range  of  our  inquiry  in  con- 
nection with  these  chapters  of  Exodus.  We  have  pointed 
out  the  agreement  of  the  fact,  that  a  considerable  army  stood 
ready  at  the  command  of  Pharaoh  to  pursue  the  fugitive  Is- 
raelites, with  the  declarations  of  Herodotus,  which  show 
that  the  principal  stations  of  the  military  caste  were  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  scene  of  these  transactions,  in  the  Delta.*  It 
remains  for  us  to  make  here  the  following  remarks. 

I.  "Wherever,"  says  Rosel  1  i  ni,t  "  the  armies  are  re- 
presented on  the  great  monuments  of  Egypt,  they  are  com- 
posed of  troops  of  infantry,  armed  with  the  bow  or  lance, 
and  of  ranks  of  chariots  drawn  by  two  horses."  Chariots 
appear  also  in  Homerf  as  the  principal  strength  of  the 
Egyptian  army.  Upon  the  Egyptian  monuments,  says  the 
same  author,^  neither  a  king  nor  any  other  person  of  conse- 
quence is  represented  in  any  other  way,  than  on  foot,  upon 
a  chariot  or  throne,  or  in  a  litter.  The  few  figures  upon 
horses   almost    all    belong  to  foreigners.       W  i  1  k  i  n  s  on  || 

*  Page  48,  57  seq.     Compare  in  reference  to  this  last  fact  also  Rosel- 
lini,  II.  3.  p.  200. 

t  II.  3.  p.  232. 

I  Iliad,  9.  383,   where  it  is  said  of  Thebes  :  jfiS^  ixarofinvkoi  hai, 

ffirjHoaioi  S*  dv  Ixnort^v  ^ Avlqh^  l^oiyvivoi  oiv  'InTioiaiv  xai  oxaatpiv. 

§  II.  3  p.  240.  II  Vol.  I   p.  288,  335. 


EGYPTIAN  CHARIOTS  OF  WAR.  133 

agrees  with  R  oseU  i  n  i  in  the  principal  point,  namely,  that 
chariots  composed  the  main  military  force  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  the  cavalry  took  only  a  subordinate  place.  That  the 
Egyptians  had  no  horsemen  at  all  he  does  not  admit, — al- 
though he  concedes  that  no  representations  of  them  are  found 
on  the  monuments, — relying  upon  the  authority  of  H  e  r  o  d  o- 
tus,  2.  162,  where  Amasis  appears  on  horseback,  (the  more 
important  passage,  chap.  108,  he  omits,)  the  declaration 
of  Diodorus,  according  to  which  Sesostris  had,  besides 
27,000  who  fought  upon  chariots,  also  24,000  horsemen,  and 
the  fact  that  in  the  hieroglyphics  the  "  command  of  the  ca- 
valry" is  represented  as  a  very  honorable  post,  generally  occu- 
pied by  the  most  distinguished  among  the  sons  of  the  king.* 
This  last  argument,  however,  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  it  attempts  to  set 
aside,  by  remarking  that  the  designation  is  properly  overseer 
of  horses,  and  probably  has  reference  to  the  care  of  the  breed 
of  horses.  Champollion|  says  of  the  war  chariots: 
"This  was  the  cavalry  of  the  age,  cavalry  properly  speaking 
did  not  exist  then  in  Egypt." 

It  is  accordingly  certain,  that  the  cavalry,  in  the  more  an- 
cient period  of  the  Pharaohs,  was  but  little  relied  on,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  it  generally  existed.  The  question  now 
is  :  What  relation  the  declarations  in  our  passage  have  to  this 
result  1  Were  the  common  view,  according  to  which  riding 
on  horses  is  superadded  with  equal  prominence  to  the  cha- 
riot of  war,  in  our  passage,  the  right  one,  there  would  arise 
strong  suspicion  against  the  credibility  of  the  narrative.  But 
a  more  accurate  examination  shows,  that  the  author  does  not 
mention  Egyptian  cavalry  at  all,  that  according  to  him  the 
Egyptian  army  is  composed  only  of  chariots  of  war,  and  that 
he  therefore  agrees  in  a  wonderful  manner  with  the  native 
Egyptian  monuments.     And  this  agreement  is  the  more  mi- 

^  Wilk.  Vol.  1.  p.  2D2.  t  II.  3.  S.  259. 

t  Page  442  of  the  German  Translation  of  his  Letters.  Brussels  Ed. 

12 


134  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Hute,  since  the  second  division  of  the  army  represented  upon 
them,  the  infantry,  could  not,  in  the  circumstances  of  our 
narrative,  take  part  in  the  pursuit. 

The  first  and  principal  passage  concerning  the  constituent 
parts  of  the  Egyptian  army  which  pursued  the  Israelites,  is 
that  in  chap.  14:  G,  7 :  "  And  he  made  ready  his  chariot,  and 
took  his  people  with  him  ;  and  took  600  chosen  chariots, 
all  the  chariots  of  Egypt  and  chariot  warriors  upon  all  of 
them."  Here  Pharaoh's  preparation  for  war  is  fully  de- 
scribed. It  consists,  first,  of  chariots,  and  secondly  of  cha- 
riot warriors.  Cavalry  are  no  more  mentioned  than  infantry. 
This  passage,  which  is  so  plain,  explains  the  second  one, 
verse  9,  where  the  arrival  of  this  same  army  in  sight  of  the 
Israelites  is  plainly  and  graphically  described,  in  order  to 
place  distinctly  before  the  reader  the  impression  which  the 
view  made  upon  the  Israelites:  *'And  the  Egyptians  fol- 
lowed them  and  overtook  them,  where  they  were  encamped 
by  the  sea,  all  the  chariot-horses  of  Pharaoh  and  his  riders 
and  his  host."  If  riders  here  be  understood  in  the  common 
sense,  (chariot-warriors  rather  than  riders  upon  horses  might 
so  much  the  sooner  be  mentioned,  since  the  Egyptian  war- 
chariot  was  very  small  and  light,)  where  then  are  the  cha- 
riot warriors?  The  author  would  not  leave  them  out,  since 
it  is  to  his  purpose  to  be  minute,  and  since  he  evidently  in- 
tended to  accumulate  circumstances  as  much  as  possible. 
Also  in  verse  17 :  "I  will  get  me  honor  upon  Pharaoh,  and 
upon  all  his  host,  upon  his  chariots  and  upon  his  riders," 
the  riders  again  correspond  with  the  chariot-warriors  in  verse 
7.  If  there  were  then  chariot-warriors  and  riders,  how 
strange  that  they  are  never  spoken  of  together.  In  verse  23 : 
"  And  the  Egyptians  pursued  them  and  went  in  after  them, 
all  the  horses  of  Pharaoh,  his  chariots  and  his  riders,"  the 
three  constituent  parts  of  the  Egyptian  warlike  preparation 
are  fully  designated.  If  riders  were  here  understood  in  the 
common  way,  it  would  be  surprising  that  horses  and  chariots 


CHARIOTS  OF  EGYPT.  135 

'.vere  named,  and  that  chariot-warriors,  who  are  most  impor- 
tant, were  left  out.  Finally,  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  chap. 
15:  1 :  "  Horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea," 
is  clear  from  verse  4  of  the  same  chapter,  where  only  the 
overwhelming  of  the  chariots  and  chariot-warriors  is  spoken  of. 

2.  The  number  of  chosen  chariots  of  Egypt  is  limited  in 
chap.  14:  6  (7)  to  GOO.  If  we  compare  with  this  other  de- 
clarations with  regard  to  the  strength  of  the  Egyptian  hosts  of 
war,  we  shall  be  the  better  prepared  to  appreciate  these 
moderate  statements,  so  inappropriate  in  a  mythic  representa- 
tion. J  o  s  e  p  h  u  s  adds,  from  his  own  resources,  to  the  600 
chariots  which  Pharaoh  brought  into  the  field,  50,000  horse- 
men and  200,000  footmen.  The  Jewish  tragic  poet,  E  z  e- 
kiel,  says  that  the  Egyptian  hosts  of  war  amounted  to  a 
million.  According  to  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s,*  Sesostris  had  600,009 
footmen,  and  24,000  horsemen,  and  27,000  chariots  of  war. 
He  gives  an  equally  extravagant  number  in  chap.  45:  47.t  It 
is  certain  that  the  600  chariots  are  not  the  whole  force  with 
which  Pharaoh  pursued  the  Israelites.  Besides,  the  600  cho- 
sen chariots  were  also  the  chariots  of  Egypt.  But  the  num- 
ber of  the  last  must  also  be  fixed  according  to  the  analogy  of 
the  first. 

3.  The  author  in  verse  7  makes  a  difference  between  the 
chosen  chariots  and  the  chariots  of  Egypt.  The  first  evi- 
dently compose  the  guard  of  the  king.  We  have  already 
proved  the  existence  of  a  royal  guard  in  Egypt  from  Hero- 
dotus and  the  monuments.|  From  H  e  r  o  d  o  t  u  s  :§  "  But 
ihey  (the  warriors)  enjoyed  these  privileges  in  turn,  never  all 
at  once — a  thousand  of  the  Calasaries  and  as  many  of  the  Her- 
motybies  were  the  yearly  guard  of  the  king,  and  to  these  was 
given,  in  addition  to  their  land,  each  day,"  etc.,  it  is  certain 
that  at  least  in  early  times,  these  guards  changed  each  year. 

*  1.  54.  t  Compare  Rosellini,  Vol.  II.  3.  p.  231 . 

X  Pages  24,  67.  §  2.  168. 


136  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

It  is  however  true,  that  this  must  not  be  understood  as  im- 
plying that  the  soldiers  all  succeeded  to  this  employment, 
without  selection,  in  successive  divisions;  but  the  rotation 
took  place  rather,  only  among  chosen  troops. 

4.  It  may  perhaps  appear  remarkable,  that  the  Israelites, 
notwithstanding  their  very  great  numbers,  at  the  appearance 
of  the  not  very  numerous  Egyptian  hosts  of  war,  considered 
themselves  as  absolutely  lost,  and  that  the  thought  of  with- 
standing them  did  not  even  occur  to  them.  A  remark  in 
Wilkinson*  assists  in  explaining  this  fact :  "  The  civil- 
ized state  of  Egyptian  society  required  the  absence  of  all 
arms  except  when  they  were  on  service."  If  the  Israelites 
were  entirely  unarmed  when  they  departed,  they  could  not 
think  of  making  resistance. 


Musical  Instruments  among  the  Egyptians, 

According  to  chap.  15:  20,  21,  after  they  had  passed 
through  the  sea,  Miriam,  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron, 
took  the  timbrel  in  her  hand,  and  all  the  women  followed  af- 
ter her  with  timbrels  and  dances,  and  Miriam  answered  them 
(Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel) :  "  Sing  to  the  Lord,  for 
he  hath  triumphed  gloriously ;  the  horse  and  the  rider  hath 
he  thrown  into  the  sea."  Analogies  for  this  scene,  in  more 
than  one  respect,  are  found  upon  the  Egyptian  monuments. 
First,  we  find  upon  them,  as  here,  separate  choirs  of  men 
and  women.  C  h  a  m  p  o  1 1  i  o  nt  discovered  in  the  grottoes 
of  Beni  Hassan,  "  a  picture  which  represented  a  concert  of 
vocal  and  instrumental  music;  a  singer  is  accompanied  by  a 
player  upon  the  harp,  and  assisted  by  two  choirs,  one  of 
which  is  composed  of  men  and  the  other  of  women;  the  lat- 
ter beat  time  with  their  hands." 

^  Vol.  I.  p.  347.  Compare  a  minute  discussion  of  this  circum- 
stance, p.  402. 

t  S.  53.  dor  Brief e. 


MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS.  137 

Further;  the  timbrel  or  the  tambourine  was,  according  to 
the  representations  of  the  monuments,  commonly  the  instru- 
ment of  the  women,  as  the  flute  of  the  men.*  A  description 
and  drawing  of  the  tambourine  is  given  by  Wilkinson.t 
We  also  find  upon  the  Egyptian  monuments,  as  here,  the 
playing  of  the  tambourine  even  unaccompanied  by  other  in- 
struments, in  connection  with  the  dance  and  singing.  "  Wo- 
men," says  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,|  in  describing  a  scene  in  Thebes, 
"  beat  the  tambourine  and  darabooka  drum,  without  the  ad- 
dition of  any  other  instrument,  dancing  or  singing  to  the 
sound."  Finally;  the  monuments  and  descriptions  show, 
that  among  the  Egyptians  generally,  music  had  a  decidedly 
religious  destination. §  Moreover,  the  tambourine  was  used 
among  them  in  sacred  music.  ||  Religious  dances  were  per- 
formed in  Egypt  in  the  worship  of  Osiris.^ 

We  will  here  add  those  things  which  the  examination  of 
Egyptian  antiquity  furnishes  in  explanation  of  the  remaining 
passages  of  the  Pentateuch,  where  music  is  mentioned. 

According  to  Num.10: 2  seq.,  two  silver  trumpets,  n'^Stiiin, 
were  ordered  to  be  made  for  calling  together  the  congregation, 
to  give  the  signal  for  breaking  up  the  camp,  for  use  in  war, 
(see  Num.  31:  6,  where  in  the  war  against  Midian  the  trum- 
pets are  taken,)  and  for  festal  occasions.  By  the  blast  of 
another  kind  of  trumpets,  called  nsi'i: ,  according  to  Lev. 
25:  8  seq.,  the  year  of  jubilee  was  announced.  From  Joshua, 
chap.  6,  verse  4,  where  the  same  instrument  is  interchange- 
ably called  trumpet  and  horn,  we  see  that  this  last  instrument 
had  the  form  of  a  horn,  and  accordingly  the  chatsotserah  must 
be  the  sti'aight  trumpet. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  remarks  Wilkinson,**  trum- 

*  Wilk.  Vol.  II.  p.  253,  314.     Ros.  JI.  3.  p.  37  seq. 
t  Vol.  II.  p.  254. 

+  Vol.  U.  p.  240,  where  a  representation  of  this  scene  is  found. 
§  Rosellini,  II.  3.  p.  78.  ||  Wilkinson,  II.  p.  316" 

^  Ros.  II.  3.  p.  96.  **  Vol.  I.  p.  297. 

12* 


138  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

pets  were  already  in  use  in  the  earliest  times  of  the  Pharaohs. 
The  sculptures  at  Thebes  show  this.  Trumpeters  are  there 
often  represented  in  the  battle  scenes,  sometimes  standing  still 
and  summoning  the  troops  to  form,  and  at  other  times  leading 
them  to  a  rapid  charge.  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  says  :  "  The  Egyp- 
tians were  acquainted  with  the  real  straight  trumpet,  and 
made  use  of  it  for  warlike  purposes,  as  far  as  the  monuments 
show,  as  the  Tyrrhenians  make  use  of  it  only  in  war."  See 
the  description  of  this  trumpet  in  Wilkin  son,*  who  also 
remarks  that  it  was  especially  used  in  war.  The  crooked 
trumpet  is  not  found  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  but  E  u- 
s  t  a  t  h  i  u  s  makes  mention  of  an  instrument  in  the  fashion  of 
a  crooked  trumpet,  whose  invention  he  ascribes  to  Osiris, 
and  whose  Egyptian  name  he  gives,  remarking  that  it  was 
used  for  assembling  the  people  to  sacrifice.!  It  is  remarka- 
ble that,  as  among  the  Egyptians,  so  also  among  the  Israelites 
in  the  Mosaic  times,  only  the  straight  trumpet  was  in  general 
use,  and  especially  among  both,  this  only  was  made  use  of  in 
war." 

In  Gen.  4:  2j  Jubal  is  represented  as  the  father  of  all 
who  play  the  lute  and  the  pipe,  accordingly  the  invention  of 
these  instruments  is  referred  to  a  primitive  age.  It  serves 
indeed  as  a  commendation  of  this  passage,  that  it  represents 
music  as  beginning  with  its  natural  beginning,  the  invention 
of  stringed  instruments. |  But  the  great  antiquity  of  stringed 
instruments  in  general,  and  especially  of  those  named,  re- 
ceives special  confirmation  from  the  monuments.  Among 
the  Egyptians,  we  find  even  in  the  most  ancient  times  very 
curiously  constructed  stringed  instruments,  especially  a  three 
stringed  guitar,  which  implies  a  long  succession  of  imperfect 

•*  II.  260,  262. 

t  Upon  the  Iliad,  2.  219,  vA.  Lips,  t  iv.  p.  65  :  SsvrtQa  77  GTQoyyiXr, 
{adXnty^)  ttuq  Aiyvnxloti,  ijv  "Oai(jig  eh^e ;  Halovfiivi],  (paal,  x^'oi'Vi 
XQMyrai  S*  avrtj  ir^og  ■d'voiav,  xa?.ovvTeg  rovg  ox^ovg  ^i.ariiinjs. 

I  Burney  in  Wilk.  II.  p.  226.  -^^^ 


MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS.  139 

attempts.  Such  instruments  indeed  are  represented  in  the 
pyramids.*  "  The  oldest  perhaps,"  says  the  same  author,t 
"  found  in  the  sculptures,  are  in  a  tomb  near  the  pyramids  of 
Gizeh,  between  three  and  four  thousand  years  old."  Ac- 
cording to  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,|  there  is  represented  in  the  tomb  of 
Tmai,  at  Gizeh,  an  eight  stringed  harp,  which  must  belong 
to  the  times  preceding  the  last  fifteen  dynasties.  In  another 
very  ancient  tomb  at  Gizeh,  there  are  represented  players  on 
a  similar  harp.  Indeed,  upon  the  oldest  monuments  instru- 
ments are  found  with  the  most  diverse  number  of  strings,  and 
any  advancement  in  the  art  of  constructing  them  cannot  be 
traced. § 

*  Wilk.  II.  p.  230.  t  Wilk.  p.  271. 

t  II.  3.  p.  13.  §  p.  12,  13. 


140  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  xMOSES. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  MATERIALS  AND  ARTS  EMPLOYED  IN  THE  CON- 
STRUCTION OF  THE  TABERNACLE  AND  PRIESTS' 
GARMENTS 

Cultivation  of  the  Arts  among  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites. 

It  has  been  adduced  as  an  argument  against  the  historical 
character  of  the  Pentateuch,  that  the  construction  of  the 
tabernacle  and  the  priest's  garments,  implies  a  cultivation  of 
the  arts  and  an  abundance  of  costly  materials,  such  as  we 
could  not  expect  to  find  among  the  Israelites  when  they  left 
Egypt.  These  materials  consisted  not  merely  of  gold,  silver 
and  brass,  but  also  of  costly  stuffs,  furs  and  spices,  things 
which  a  nomade  people  are  not  accustomed  to  carry  with 
them  in  their  wanderings.  It  is  accordingly  argued  that  the 
whole  description  of  the  tabernacle  belongs  not  to  history 
but  to  fiction.*  The  assertion  was  made  with  so  much  con- 
fidence that  it  has  by  degrees  become  established  and  tra- 
ditional. 

The  foundation  for  its  confiuation,  we  have  indeed  previ- 
ously laidjt  by  showing  that  the  prevalent  view  concerning  the 
condition  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  according  to  which  they 
merely  continued  their  nomade  life,  is  a  false  one,  since  they 
there  availed  themselves  of  the  advantages  of  Egyptian 
culture  and  civilization,  and  in  some  respects  attained  to 
considerable  prosperity.     To  complete  the  structure,  there 

*  See  Vater,  Abhand.  S.  648,  De  Wette,  Beitr.  I.  S.  259.  II.  S.  260. 
Von  Bohlen,  S.  CXII. 
t  Beitrage  Th.  2.  S.  430  ft'. 


PRECIOUS  STONES.  141 

is  now  nothing  further  requisite,  than  to  show  that  the 
materials  which  were  used  in  making  the  tabernacle  and 
priestly  robes,  were  at  that  time  already  in  use  in  Egypt,  but 
most  especially  that  the  arts  and  contrivances  which  come 
into  consideration,  were  there  already  in  existence  and  known. 
For  the  material  and  intellectual  resources  of  the  Egyptians 
we  justly  consider  as  common  to  the  Israelites  with  them. 

But  to  furnish  this  information  is  not  our  only  design  in 
this  chapter.  We  also  aim  at  a  more  positive  object  beyond 
this.  While  we  show  that  the  Tsraelitish  arts  are  connected 
with  the  Egyptian  by  many  characteristic  peculiarities,  we 
prove  that  the  situation  of  things  is  just  such  as  it  must  be,  if 
we  suppose  that  Moses  is  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch,  or  at 
least  that  it  is  historically  accurate,  while  later  fiction  or  ficti- 
tious narrative  could  not  have  originated  or  sustained  this 
Egyptian  relationship. 

We  begin  with  a  general  declaration  of  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  investigators  of  Egyptian  antiquity.  "  It  is  a 
wonderful  fact,  that  the  first  information  which  we  have  with 
regard  to  the  history  and  manners  of  the  Egyptians,  shows  us 
a  nation  which  is  far  advanced  in  civilized  life.  The  same 
customs  and  inventions  which  prevailed  in  the  Augustan  era 
of  this  people,  at  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  dy- 
nasty, are  also  found  even  in  the  far  distant  age  of  Osirtasen, 
the  contemporary  of  Joseph." 


The  art  of  Cutting  and  Setting  precious  Stones. 

The  materials  which  were  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
tabernacle  and  priest's  garments  were  a  part  of  them  hard, 
and  a  part  soft.  Among  the  former,  precious  stones  take  the 
first  place.  B  e  z  a  1  e  e  1,  is  spoken  of  in  Ex.-S^'S^,  as  distin- 
guished among  other  things  for  his  skill  "  in  the  preparation 
of  stones  for  setting."  Precious  stones,  on  which  the  names 
of  the  Israelites  were  engraven  in  the  character  engraven  on 


142  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

the  signet  rinw,  were  placed,  according  to  Ex.  28:  9 — 11,  17, 
seq.,  in  golden  encasements  upon  the  ephod  and  breastplate 
of  the  high  priest. 

The  art  of  cutting  precious  stones,  generally  very  early  dis- 
covered, was  practised  in  Egypt  even  in  very  ancient  times.* 
"  There  are  several  necklaces  of  gold  and  cornelian  in  the 
new  gallery  of  Egyptian  antiquities  opened  at  the  British 
Museum,  whose  exquisite  workmanship  could  scarcely  be  sur- 
passed by  modern  artists,  though  as  we  see  from  the  engra- 
ving, the  apparatus  of  the  jeweller  was  as  simple  as  could 
well  be  imagined.  This  is  still  the  case  in  Hindoostan,  where 
the  native  jeweller,  travelling  from  house  to  house  with  his 
little  furnace  and  blow  pipe,  produces  ornaments  of  consid-  ' 
erable  beauty. "t  How  very  nmch  genuine  precious  stones 
were  valued  is  indeed  evident  from  the  circumstance  that 
imitations  of  them  were  made  in  considerable  numbers. 
The  Theban  artists  were  particularly  distinguished  in  this 
employment  of  counterfeiting.  As,  then  we  find  it  common 
for  the  Egyptians  to  imitate  the  ornaments  of  the  rich  in 
cheaper  materials  for  the  use  of  the  lower  classes,  it  is  very 
evident  that  the  spirit  of  luxury,  which  belongs  to  an  ad- 
vanced state  of  civilization  was  already  at  an  early  period 
widely  diffused  in  Egypt.|  That  the  art  of  the  engraver  was 
native  to  Egypt,  is  manifest  from  the  data  which  Wilkin- 
son has  furnished  with  regard  to  the  Egyptian  signets.  Of 
many  of  them  he  has  also  engravings.^  There,  for  example, 
is  described  the  signet  yet  preserved,  of  one  of  the  earliest 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Upon  one  side  of  the  plate  the  name  of 
the  king  is  engraved;  upon  the  opposite,  a  lion  with  the 
motto  :  "  The  lord  of  strength,"  which  is  applied  to  the  king  ; 

*  See   quotations  from  Winkclmanii,    Mnll(>r  and   others  in  Bella- 
Symbol.  Th.  II.  S.  103. 

1  Taylor,  p.  8b.  I  Taylor,  p.  88. 

^  Vol,  III,  p.  373-^4 


PURE  GOLD.  143 

on  one  side  is  a  scorpion,  and  on  the  opposite  a  crocodile.* 
Moreover,  various  other  inscriptions  are  found  engraved  on 
Egyptian  rings."t 


The  art  of  Purifying  and  'Working  Metals. 

Among  the  hard  materials,  the  metals  hold  the  second  place. 
Of  Bezaleel  it  is  said  in  Ex.  35:  32,  he  had  power  to  devise 
curious  works,  to  work  in  gold  and  silver  and  brass."  With 
this  compare  what  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i|  says  :  "  From  all  such 
articles,  as  they  are  represented  in  the  Egyptian  tombs,  it  is 
manifest,  how  anciently  the  art  of  casting  and  working  metals 
was  practised  in  Egypt" — And  :  "  The  greater  part  of 
Egyptian  metallic  articles  are  of  bronze,  not  a  few  of  gold, 
a  smaller  number  of  silver,  very  few  of  lead  and  those  made 
of  iron  are  seldom  found. "§ 

The  gold  which  was  ordered  to  be  used  about  the  sanctu- 
ary is  commonly  designated  as  pure  gold.|l  A  painting  in  the 
tomb  at  Thebes  which  bears  the  date  of  Thothmes  IV.,  ap- 
pears to  represent  the  fusion  and  purifying  of  gold.^  Many 
ornaments  are  found  in  the  Egyptian  collections  which  are 
made  of  the  purest  gold.  The  monuments  furnish  clear  evi- 
dence that  gold  was  purified,  and  thus  of  course  distinguished 
from  that  which  was  unwrought  and  not  purified.  Incorrectly, 
therefore  have  some,  referring  to  some  one  old  ornament, 
made  of  impure  gold,  denied  to  the  Egyptians  the  art  of 
preparing  pure  gold.**  According  to  Ex.  25:  11,  the  ark  of 
testimony,   and   according  to  26:  29,  all   the  boards  of  the 

*  The  assertion  of  Pliny,  33:  6  :  "  Non  signat  Oriens  aut  Aegyptus 
etiam  nunc,  literis  contenta  solis,"  is  by  these  discoveries  shown  to 
be  false. 

f  Compare  Wilk.  III.  p.  376.  I  11.  2.  p.  297. 

§  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  298. 

II  See  Ex.  25:  11,  17,  24,  29  and  other  passages. 

IT  RoseDini  II.  2.  p.  278.  **  Ibid.  p.  280. 


144  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tabernacle  were  to  be  overlaid  with  gold.  "  We  find,"  says 
W  i  1  k  inson,"t  that  in  Egypt  substances  of  various  kinds 
were  overlaid  with  gold  leaf,  at  the  earliest  periods  of  which 
the  monuments  remain  even  in  the  time  of  the  first  Osirtasen." 
Even  the  mummies  were  gilded. | 

According  to  Ex.  39:  3,  the  high  priest's  ephod  was  inter- 
woven with  threads  of  gold.  We  find  even  gold  wire  attached 
to  rings  bearing  the  date  of  Osirtasen  the  first  ;  and  silver 
wire  existed  in  the  days  of  the  third  Thothmes.§  Some  of 
the  colored  Egyptian  dresses  represented  in  the  paintings 
are  probably  woven  with  gold  threads. || 

In  the  two  upper  golden  rings  of  the  breastplate,  wreathed 
golden  chains    were  inserted,  for  fastening   the  breastplate^ 
to  the  ephod. ^     Golden  chains  were  very  common  among 
the    Egyptians,  and  are  often,   for  example,  represented  as 
necklaces.** 

The  golden  candlestick  was  ornamented  with  flowers  of 
gold,  Ex.  25:  31  seq.  Representations  of  flowers  were 
also  probably  made  on  the  variegated  cloths  of  the  taberna- 
cle.ft  The  Egyptians  had  an  extraordinary  love  for  flowers, 
both  natural  and  artificial.  The  Lotus  and  other  favorite 
flowers  are  found  everywhere  worn  as  ornaments.  According 
to  Plinyjf  they  made  artificial  flowers  which  received  the 
name  of  '^Egyptiae."|||| 

In  Exodus,  chap.  35:  22,  among  the  free  will  offerings 
which  both  the  men  and  women  of  Israel  brought  for  the 
sanctuary,  *'  nose  rings   and  ear  rings,   and  signet  rings  and 

t  Vol.  III.  224. 

t  See  Pettigrew,  History  of  Ejryptian  Mummies,  London,  1834, 
p.  63. 

§  Wilk.  III.  p.  129.  II  Wilk.  111.  p.  131. 

If  Ex.  28:  22  seq.     B'dhr  Symbol.  Vol.  II.  S.  105. 

**  Wilkinson,  Vol.  III.  p.  376,  with  the  engraving,  409,  M. 

ItBahr  Th.  I.  S.314.  U  21:  2. 

nil  Wilk.  Vol.  U.  p.  183. 


METAL  MIRRORS    COMMON  IN   EGYPT.  145 

pendants,"  all  jewels  of  gold,  first  mentioned.  Astonishment 
at  this  abundance  of  ornaments  is  at  an  end,  when  we  read 
what  R  o  s  e  11  i  n  i*  says  upon  this  point :  "  Costly  and  elegant 
ornaments  abounded,  in  proportion  as  clothing  in  general  was 
simple  and  scarce  among  the  Egyptians.  Girdles,  necklaces, 
armlets,  rings,  earrings  and  amulets  of  various  kinds  sus- 
pended from  the  neck,  are  found  represented  in  the  paintings 
and  in  fact,  still  exist  on  the  mummies.  Figures  of  noble 
youth,  are  found  entirely  devoid  of  clothing,  but  richly  orna- 
mented with  necklaces,"  etc. 

The  brazen  laver  according  to  chap.  38 :  8,  was  made 
of  the  brazen  mirrors  which  the  holy  women  offered.t 
"  One  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  toilet,"  says  Wilkin- 
son,! ''was  the  mirror.  It  was  of  mixed  metal,  chiefly 
copper,  most  carefully  wrought  and  highly  polished ;  and  so 
admirably  did  the  skill  of  the  Egyptians  succeed  in  the  com- 
position of  metals,  that  this  substitute  for  our  modern  looking- 
glass  was  susceptible  of  a  lustre  which  has  even  been  par- 
tially revived  at  the  present  day,  in  some  of  those  discovered 
at  Thebes,  though  buried  in  the  earth  for  many  centuries." 
The  mirror  was  nearly  round,  inserted  into  a  handle  of  wood, 
stone  or  metal  of  various  forms.§  See  also  the  same  author  1| 
upon  looking-glasses  discovered  at  Thebes,  and  upon  the 
vi^hole  subject,  Rosellini,^]  according  to  whom,  the 
Egyptian  name  of  mirror  like  the  Hebrew,  signifies,  the  view 
of  the  face. 


Skill  in  Carving  Wood. 

The  third   hard  material  is  wood.     The  circumstance  that 
the  same  kind  of  wood  which  viras  employed  about  the  sanc- 

*  Vol.  II.  2.  p.  419—20.  t  Th.  3.  der  Beitrage,  S.  133. 

t  Vol.  III.  p.  384, 

§  Engravings  of  them  are  found  in  Wilk.  III.  385 — 6. 
II  Vol.  III.  p.  253.  11  Vol.  11.  2.  528  seq. 

13 


146  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tuary,  the  acacia,  (tamarisk,  sant,)*  was  also  commonly 
used  in  Egypt  is  of  but  little  importance,  since  this  is  the 
only  wood  which  the  desert  furnishes.  The  Egyptians  were 
greatly  skilled  in  joiner  and  cabinetwork.!  Rosellini 
says,  on  p.  38 :  according  to  the  monuments,  the  saic  was 
known  and  in  use  2000  years  before  our  era. 


Use  of  Leather. 

Leather  holds  the  first  place  among  the  soft  materials. 
The  covering  of  the  tabernacle,  which  lay  directly  over  that 
of  goat's  hair,  according  to  Ex.  26:  14,  was  to  consist  of 
ram's  skins  colored  red.  Above  that,  was  a  covering  of  an- 
other kind  of  handsome  leather,  which  cannot  be  accurately 
defined.  The  preparation  of  leather,  says  Wil  kin  son,f 
was  an  important  branch  of  Egyptian  industry.  The  fine- 
ness of  the  leather  of  the  straps  of  a  mummy  discovered  at 
Thebes,  and  the  beauty  of  the  figures  which  are  stamped  up- 
on it,  show  conclusively  the  skill  of  the  artist  who  prepared  it. 
Some  of  these  pieces  of  leather  bear  the  name  of  the  kings  of 
the  oldest  times.  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i§  also  gives  an  account  of  the 
art  of  making  leather.  In  the  tombs  at  Thebes,  a  shop 
filled  with  leather-workers  is  found  represented.  They  made 
bottles,  quivers  and  pouches  of  different  colors,  and  orna- 
ments, shoes  and  sandals,  shields,  etc.,  of  leather.  "The 
wood  of  the  Egyptian  harps  was  sometimes  covered  with 
colored  leather.  In  the  museum  of  the  Louvre,  at  Paris,  an 
Egyptian  harp  is  preserved,  whose  wood  is  covered  with  a 
kind  of  green  morocco,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  lotus  blossom. "|| 

*  Compare  Herod.  B.  2.  c.  122.  Jablonsky,  Voce.  Aeg.  ap.  Script. 
Vett.,  8.  V.  Sant  and  Sittim,  Rosellini,  II.  2.  S.  33.  Wilk.  Vol.  III. 
p.  168. 

t  Compare  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  32,  and  Taylor,  p.  106  seq. 

t  Vol.  III.  p.  155.  §  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  355. 

II  Ros.  II.  3.  p.  16. 


THE  WEAVERS  OF  EGYPT.  147 


Spinning,  Weaving  and  Embroidery. 

We  now  turn  our  attention  to  their  cloths  of  the  tabernacle 
and  priests'  garments.  Many  passages  mention  the  twisted 
byssus.*  In  the  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan,  the  process  of  pre- 
paring the  thread  and  twining  it,  in  preparation  for  weav- 
ing, is  exhibited. f  They  were  accustomed  to  beat  the  yarn 
with  clubs  so  as  to  make  it  softer  and  more  suitable  for  twin- 
ing ;  they  also  boiled  the  thread  in  water  to  increase  its  soft- 
ness, and  at  the  same  time  give  it  greater  consistence,  and 
thus  make  it  better  for  twisting  and  weaving.  The  byssus  in 
particular  was  treated  in  this  way.  The  inscription  on  a 
part  of  an  Egyptian  wall-picture  is  interpreted  by  Rosel- 
I  i  n  i  4  The  preparation  of  the  yarn  of  bjssus.  Then  follows 
the  representation  of  the  twisting  itself,  which  is  performed, 
partly  by  men  and  partly  by  women,  and  indeed  in  different 
ways,  which  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  describes.^ 

The  skill  of  the  Egyptians  in  weaving,  and  the  great  re- 
nown of  their  cloths  in  all  antiquity,  is  recognized  and  con- 
firmed by  the  fact,  that  the  ancient  writers  attribute  to  the 
Egyptians  the  invention  of  this  art.|| 

Herodotus^  mentions  as  one  of  the  points  in  which  the 
Egyptians  differ  from  other  nations,  that  among  them  the 
women  perform  the  out-of-door's  work,  and  the  men  weave,** 
Other  ancient  writers  bear  testimony  to  the  same  thing. 
"In  ancient  times  the  weavers  of  Panopolis,  in  Upper  Egypt, 
were  especially  distinguished,  in  later  times,  those  in  Arsinoe, 
Pelusium  and  Alexandria."tt     Also  very  many  men  are  seen 

*  Ex.  26:  1,  31,  and  other  passages.  t  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  13,  14. 

+  p.  16.  §  p.  16  and  17. 

II  Aegyptii  textilia  (invenerunt).  Plin.  B.  7.  c.  56. 
^  Chap.  2.  35      Compare  c.  105:  Ot  Se  avdQsg  aax  oi'ytovg  iovrsg 
v(f,aivovot. 

**  Heeren,  S.  388. 

ft  Strabo,  17,  813.    Drumann  Inschrift  von  Rosette,  S.  170. 


148  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

on  the  monuments  employed  in  weaving,*  and  when  we  not 
unfrequently  also  see  women  weaving, t  this  can,  in  view  of  the 
testimony  of  ancient  writers,  yet  be  considered  only  as  the 
exception  which  destroys  not  the  rule. — Now,  in  most  perfect 
agreement  with  these  notices  of  ancient  writers,  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  cloth  for  the  sanctuary  and  the  sacerdotal  robes  is 
represented  throughout  as  under  the  care  of  men.t 

The  women,  on  the  contrary,  performed  the  spinning,^ 
and  this  work  generally  belonged  to  them  in  Egypt. ||  Wil- 
kinson gives  engravings  of  women  who  are  employed  with 
the  spindle.     Yet  this  was  not  exclusively  their  work.^ 

It  is  evident  from  Ex.  35:  25,  according  to  which  the  Is- 
raelitish  women  brought  of  the  purple  which  they  had  spun, 
that  the  colored  fabrics  which  were  employed  about  the  taber- 
nacle, were  dyed  before  weaving.  The  same  thing  was  also 
done  among  the  Egyptians.  In  M  i  n  u  t  o  1  i**  it  is  said  : 
"  From  many  experiments  upon  the  ancient  Egyptian  cloth 
it  appears  that  the  byssus  was  colored  in  the  wool  before 
weaving,  which  also  is  shown  by  Ex.  25:  4.  26:  1.  The  pro- 
cess which  P 1  i  n  yft  describes  for  impressing  different  colors 
all  at  once  upon  the  web  after  it  is  finished  by  the  use  of  va- 
rious preparations,  appears  therefore  to  be  a  later  advance- 
ment in  Egyptian  art."  Wilkinsontf  also  shows  that 
cloth  was  colored  in  the  thread  among  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

The  colored  figures  in  the  cloth  of  the  Israelites  were 
partly  the  product  of  the  weaver  in   colors,  nipn ,  whose  art 

""  See,  e,  g.  Minutoli,  t.  25. 

t  Ros.  II.  2.  p.  30,  and  Wilk.  Vol.  III.  p.  134,  and  the  engravings, 
Vol.  II.  p.  60. 

i  See  the  phrase,  "work  of  the  weaver,"'  in  Ex.  28:  32.  39:  22,  27; 
''  work  of  the  artificer,"  in  28:  6,  15.  26:  31,  but  especially  ch.  35:  36. 

§  Ex.  35:  25.  II  Herod.  2.  35,  and  Wilk.  2.  60. 

IT  Wilk.  Vol.  III.  p.  133.  The  same  author  also  gives  an  engrav- 
ing of  Egyptian  spindles,  p.  136. 

^^  S.  402.  .  tt  Hist.  nat.  p.  35,  42.  U  Vol.  III.  p.  125. 


LINEN  ARMOR.  149 

appears  the  superior,  and  partly  that  of  the  embroiderer  in 
colors,  QjPh.*  Both  methods  are  reproduced  on  the  monu- 
ments, so  that  the  objection  which  has  been  brought  forward 
against  rendering  the  word  rohem  by  embroiderers,  that  the 
art  of  embroidering  was  generally  unknown  in  earlier  ages, 
and  particularly  among  the  Hebrews,  is  to  be  regarded  as 
entirely  groundless.  "  Many  of  the  Egyptian  stuffs,"  says 
Wilkinson,!  "  presented  various  patterns  worked  in  colors 
by  the  loom,  independent  of  those  produced  by  the  dyeing 
or  printing  process,  and  so  richly  composed,  that  they  vied 
with  cloths  embroidered  with  the  needle."  The  Egyptian 
sails,  says  the  same  author, |  were  some  of  them  embroidered 
with  fanciful  devices,  representing  the  phoenix,  flowers  and 
other  emblems.  This,  however,  was  confined  to  the  plea- 
sure boats  of  the  nobles  and  king.  That  this  was  done  even 
in  the  early  ages,  is  evident  from  the  paintings  at  Thebes, 
which  show  sails  ornamented  with  various  colors  of  the  time 
of  Remeses  III.  The  devices  are  various,  the  most  common 
one  is  the  phoenix.§ 

In  Ex.  28:  32,  it  is  said  of  the  outer  garment  of  the  high 
priest:  ''And  its  opening  for  the  head  shall  be  in  the  middle 
of  it,  a  border  shall  there  be  to  the  opening  round  about,  of 
woven  work,  like  the  opening  of  a  habergeon  shall  it  be,  so 
that  it  be  not  rent."  No  other  than  a  linen  harbergeon  can 
be  meant ;  for  no  other  would  need  a  binding.  The  linen 
armor  of  the  Egyptians  was  renowned  in  all  antiquity.  He- 
rodotusll  mentions  a  linen  habergeon  (or  corselet),  orna- 
mented with  many  animals,  and  worked  with  cotton  thread 
and  with  gold,  which  Amasis  sent  to  the  Lacedemonians  as 

*  Compare  the  passage  in  the  Lxx,  and  the  proof  that  tj?")  signi- 
fies embroiderers,  in  opposition  to  Hartmann,  Gresen.  and  others,  in 
Bahr  Symb.  I.  S.  267. 

t  Vol.  III.  p.  128.  X  Ibid,  210. 

§  See  engravings  in  Wilk.  III.  210.  \\  3.  47. 

13* 


150  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

a  present,  and  also  another  which  the  same  king  dedicated 
to  Minerva  at  Lindus.  He  designates  this  last  as  a  ''linen 
corselet  worthy  of  admiration.'*  It  is  acknowledged,  that 
the  linen  corselet  was  not  peculiar  to  Egypt  alone.t  But 
yet  an  importance  such  as  is  here  implied,  the  linen  corselet 
had  nowhere  except  in  Egypt. 


Preparation  and  Use  of  Unguents. 

We  also  remark,  that  what  is  said  in  Ex.  30:  22  seq.,  con- 
cerning the  holy  ointment  and  its  preparation,  has  received 
abundant  explanation  and  confirmation  from  investigations 
in  Egypt.  Unguents  were  very  much  used  among  the  Egyp- 
tians. This  is  evident  in  part  from  representations  in  the 
paintings,  and  in  part  from  the  vases  for  containing  them  which 
yet  exist.  Some  of  them  still  retain  their  odor.  As  far  as 
can  be  determined  from  these  last,  unguents  appear  some- 
times to  have  been  made  of  nut  oil,  but  it  is  probable,  that 
animal  as  well  as  vegetable  oil  was  used  for  this  purpose, 
while  the  other  ingredients  depended  on  the  taste  of  the  mak- 
er or  purchaser.}: 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  the  description  of  the  holy 
ointment,  the  bin  is  first  used  as  a  measure,  which  afterwards 
often  appears  in  the  Pentateuch.  It  has  no  discoverable  He- 
brew etymology,  and  furthermore  it  appears  probable  that 
the  name  is  not  of  Hebrew  origin,  since  it  is  found,  out  of  the 
Pentateuch,  only  in  Ezekiel,  in  the  description  of  the  temple, 
where,  like  so  many  other  words,  it  is  not  taken  from  the 
current  language  of  the  day,  but  from  the  Pentateuch.     Ac- 

*  2.  182.     See  also  Wilk.  III.  127  seq. 

t  Ajax  is  designated  in  the  Iliad,  2.  529,  as,  hvodxo^rji,.  Compare 
the  passages  collected  and  referred  to  in  Perizonius  upon  Sueton. 
Galba,  c.  19. 

X  Wilk.  II.  p.  214,  and  III.  378. 


THE  HIN  AS  A  MEASURE.  151 

cording  to  L  e  e  m  a  n,*  the  word  is  borrowed  from  the  Egyp- 
tian language.  The  liin,  he  asserts,  was  originally  the  gene- 
ral name  for  a  vessel  which  then  was  transferred  by  the  He- 
brews and  Egyptians  to  a  certain  measure  of  variable  com- 


Hitherto  we  have  occupied  ourselves  only  with  the  mate- 
rials of  the  tabernacle  and  priest's  garments,  and  the  arts 
which  are  known  to  have  been  employed  upon  them.  Now, 
we  will  also  show,  that  even  in  the  religious  institutions  of 
the  Books  of  Moses,  Egyptian  references  cannot  be  denied, 
notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  those  who  in  modern  times, 
combating  the  practice  so  hostile  to  sound  criticism,  of  find- 
ing such  references  wherever  there  is  the  least  semblance  of 
a  reason  for  it,  have  wholly  denied  their  existence. 

*  Lettre  a  M.  Salvolini  sur  les  Monumens  Egyptians,  Leyden  1838. 


152         EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

EGYPTIAN   REFERENCES  IN  THE   RELIGIOUS   INSTI- 
TUTIONS OF  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Law  among  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites. 

The  complicated  character  of  the  legislation  of  the  Penta- 
teuch directs  us,  in  a  general  way,  to  Egypt.*  So  complex 
a  code  of  laws  could  not  have  been  given  to  a  people  who 
had  not  indeed  from  former  circumstances  been  accustomed 
to  a  law  regulating  the  whole  life.  If  we  fancy  the  Israelites 
as  still  occupying  the  position  of  the  patriarchs,  they  are  a 
complete  enigma  to  us.  Egypt  was  preeminently  a  land  of 
law,  and  especially  of  written  law.  "  There  can  be  no 
doubt,"  says  H  e  e  r  e  n,t  ''  after  all  that  we  know  of  Egyp- 
tian antiquity,  that  legislation  in  its  main  branches  was  there 
carried,  as  far  at  least  as  in  any  other  land  of  the  East."| 
But  especially  was  the  religious  polity  of  the  Egyptians  car- 
ried out  into  the  most  minute  details.  Herodotus§  says 
of  the  Egyptian  priests :  ''  The  priests  shave  the  whole  body 
every  third  day  — ;  the  priests  also  wear  a  linen  garment  and 
shoes  of  papyrus,  and  they  are  not  permitted  to  put  on  any 
other  clothing,  and  no  other  shoes.  They  bathe  themselves 
in  cold  water  twice  a  day,  and  twice  every  night.  And  yet 
many  thousand  other  usages,  I  might  say,  they  must  observe."|| 

*  In  den  BeitrHgen,  Th.  3.  S.  623-4.  t  S.  167. 

X  Concerning  the   Books  of  Legislation  among  the  Egyptians,  see 
Diod.  1.  94,  and  Zoega,  De  Obeliscis,  p.  520. 
§  B.  2.  c.  37. 
W^'jiXkag  re  d'Qtjaxiai  i7tiv6?Jovat  fivQiag,  o'jg  slnuv  koyca. 


priests'  garments.  153 

If  we  take  into  view  the  people  from  among  whom  the  Is- 
raelites were  removed,  the  complicated  character  of  the  Mo- 
saic polity,  very  far  from  being  an  argument  against  its  gen- 
uineness, must  rather  appear  to  us  a  necessary  condition  of 
it.  For  a  people  which  had  been  in  such  a  school,  a  simple 
polity  was  by  no  means  suitable. 

In  the  following  institutions  of  the  Books  of  Moses,  special 
Egyptian  references  can  be  shown,  or  at  least  made  probable.* 

We  begin  with  those  things  which  are  closely  connected 
with  the  preceding  chapter,  without  properly  belonging  to  it. 


THE  STUFF  AND  COLOR  OF  THE  PRIESTS     GARMENTS. 

The  similarity  which  is  found  to  exist  between  the  Israel- 
itish  and  Egyptian  priests'  garments  in  respect  to  color  and 
material,  is  of  no  small  importance.  It  is  clear  from  many 
passages,  that  the  IsraeJitish  priests  were  clothed  in  white 
linen  and  byssus  ;t  and  that  the  Egyptians  were  also  so  clothed, 
is  evident  from  Herodotus  :|  "  But  the  priests  wear  merely 
linen  clothing,  and  are  not  allowed  to  put  on  any  other."  In 
this  passage  linen  includes  also  byssus.§ 

Two  arguments  have  been  made  use  of  to  show  that  this  agree- 
ment between  Egyptian  and  Israelitish  antiquity  is  merely 
accidental.     First,  it  is  asserted,  that  these  priests'  garments 

*"  We  satisfy  ourselves  with  the  statement  of  the  really  tenable 
Egyptian  references,  for  those  which  have  been  claimed  as  untenable 
by  those  who  have  preceded  us,  we  refer  to  the  "  Symbolik  des  Mo- 
saischen  Cultus,"  by  Bahr,  where  their  inadmissibility  has  been  shown 
oftentimes  in  a  striking  manner. 

t  As  Ex.  28:  39—42.  39:  27,  28.  Lev.  6:  10.  Compare  Braun 
de  Vestitu  Sacerdotis  magni,  I.  p.  93  :  Vestes  totius  coetus  lineae 
erant  praeter  balteum,  qui  ex  lana  et  lino  mixtus. 

I  2.  37. 

§  Compare  Heeren  Ideen,  1.  1.  S.  107.  II.  2.  S.  133.  Drumann, 
Ueber  die  Inschrift  von  Rosette,  S.  169.  Pliny,  Hist.  nat.  19.  1,  ves- 
tis  ex  gossypie  sacerdotibus  Aeg.  gratissimae. 


154  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

did  not  probably  belong  to  the  Israelites  and  Egyptians  alone, 
but  they  are  rather  the  same  which  were  diffused  throughout 
the  old  world  ;  a  sure  proof,  that  one  people  cannot  be  sup- 
posed to  have  adopted  them  from  another,  that  they  were 
rather,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  everywhere  used. 
B  a  h  r*  says  :  "  Everywhere  from  India  to  Gaul,  the  priests' 
wear  garments  of  vegetable  material,  consequently,  of  linen 
or  cotton,  and  of  white,  if  possible,  of  brilliant  white  color.  It  is 
the  less  necessary  to  refer  to  individual  documents  concerning 
these  well  known  facts,  as  they  have  been  already  collected 
by  several  authors." 

But  among  those  quoted,  Spencer  and  B  r  a  u  n,  in  the 
passage  cited,t  speak  only  of  the  luhite  color.  The  former  " 
directly  shows  that  linen  clothing  is,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Israelites,  peculiar  only  to  the  Egyptian  priests.  S  a  u  b  e  r  t,| 
only  undertakes  to  prove  that  the  priests  everywhere  have  been 
accustomed  to  clothe  themselves  with  white  linen  garments. 
But  the  passages  which  the  inaccurate  collector  quotes,  all 
have  reference  either  to  Egyptian  or  Israelitish  antiquity. 

The  color  taken  by  itself,  is  indeed  not  without  some  im- 
portance. It  is  allowed  that  white  priestly  apparel  is  common 
among  other  nations  of  antiquity.  But  in  this  exclusiveness 
it  is  peculiar  only  to  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites.  Rosen- 
m  u  e  1 1  e  r§  remarks  :  ''Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the 
color  of  the  pontifical  robes  was  different  according  to  the 
different  gods  to  whom  they  sacrificed,  and  white  garments 
were  put  on  only  when  they  offered  to  Ceres." ||  (?) 

But  if  we  look  at  the  material  of  the  priests'  robes  in  con- 
nexion with  the  color,  an  accidental  agreement  of  Israelitish 
with  Egyptian  antiquity,  can  no  longer  be  thought  of     That 

*  In  der  Symbolik,  Th.  II.  p.  87. 

t  1.  170.  I  De  Sacrificiis,  1.  c.  9.  p.  188. 

§  In  dem.  A.  &  N.  Morgenl.  Th.  2.  S.  190. 

II  Ovid's  Festb.  6.619. 


PREFERENCE  OF  LINEN  GARMENTS.  155 

their  priests  were  clothed  in  linen,  was  considered  in  all 
antiquity  as  a  remarkable  and  exclusive  peculiarity  of  the 
Egyptians.  The  documents  have  already  been  so  fully  quoted 
by  Spencer,*  that  we  only  need  to  refer  to  him.  A  priest- 
hood clothed  only  in  linen,  cannot  be  shown  to  have  existed 
elsewhere  in  all  heathen  antiquity  ;  and  if  the  new  Pythago- 
reans, appealing  to  the  alleged  example  of  Pythagoras  himself, 
gave  the  preference  to  linen  clothing,  instead  of  woolen,t  this 
can  certainly  be  accounted  for  only  by  supposing  an  imitation 
of  Egyptian  customs. 

B  a  h  r|  adduces  a  second  argument  against  the  dependence 
of  the  priestly  robes  of  the  Israelites  upon  those  of  the  Egyptian. 
"  In  Egypt,"  he  says,  "  the  byssus  was  chosen  in  preference, 
and  mainly  on  account  of  its  origin,  '  out  of  the  indestruct- 

*  p.  683  seq.  He  says  :  Addere  liceat  auctores  illos  antiques,  qui 
de  veste  linea  sic  loqui  solent,  quasi  sacrificulis  Aegypti  propria  esset 
et  peculiaris.  Nam  linigeri  tanquam  proprius  et  peculiaris  character 
sacerdotum  Aegyptiacorum  apud  antiques,  poeta&  inprimis,  frequen- 
ter usurpatur.  Ideo  enim  Juvenal i  grex  liniger,  Ovidio  linigera  turba, 
Martiali  linigeri  calvi^  qui  et  Senecae  linteati  senes  appellantur. 
Herodotus  aliique  sacrum  lineae  vestis  usuni  inter  natives  et  antiques 
Aegypti  mores  referunt.  Compare  the  copious  collections  upon  linen 
as  the  peculiar  dress  of  the  Egyptian  priests,  in  Perizonius  upon 
Suetonius,  Otho,  c.  12. 

t  According  to  Fhilistratus,  p.  1.  ed.  Olearii,  Pythagorus  would  wear 
no  clothing  which  was  prepared  from  animal  stuffs.  Sic  infra,  remarks 
Olearius  upon  this  passage,  Pythagoricae  disciplinae  initiatus  Apol- 
lonius  livov  iod'T^ra  aixTtioysxaij  TtctQairrjadfisvog  TtjV  aito  tomv.  Et 
1.  1.  32,  a  Pythagora  se  habere  ait  yr^ivoi  &qioj  tovtcu  iara'Xd'aij  quod 
lana  ex  terra  nata  vestiatur.  In  B.  6.  c.  11  of  the  Pythagorean  phi- 
losophy, Apollonius  says :  Sectaterem  suam  nee  laena  esse  foven- 
dum,  nee  lana  quae  animatis  depecti  selet.  Olearius  refers  also  to 
other  passages.  The  passages  which  Braun  refers  to  in  one  of 
various  places  before  cited  (I.  p.  103,)  in  proof  of  the  incorrect 
position  :  "  Ejusdem  quoque  materiae  plerumque  fuerunt  ethnicorum 
ve&timenta  sacra,"  can  relate  only  to  the  Pythagoreans, 

t  Symbol.  2.  S.  90,91. 


156  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

ible  earth,'  while  they  despised  animal  clothing,  since  it  is 
obtained  from  a  creature  subject  to  death,  or  since  it  implies 
the  death  of  the  animals  which  they  suppose  unallowed. 
The  byssus  garments  of  the  Egyptian  priests  are  therefore 
most  intimately  connected  with  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Egyptian  natural  religion,  of  which  there  is  not  the 
least  trace  to  be  found  in  the  Mosaic  law.  Supposing  there- 
fore that  the  Egyptian  priests  only,  besides  those  instituted 
by  Moses,  had  worn  the  byssus  garment,  in  consequence  of  the 
entirely  different  significance  it  had  among  them,  it  could  yet 
furnish  no  proof  of  a  borrowing  or  copying." 

But  allow  that  it  is  shown  that  the  import  of  the  gar- 
ment of  byssus  was  entirely  different  among  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Israelites,  yet  the  latter  might  very  properly  have 
borrowed  the  custom.  What  good  objection  is  there  to  the 
supposition  that  they  applied  to  a  form  borrowed  from  the 
Egyptians  a  new  significance  ? 

But  the  assertion  that  the  reasons  for  the  preference  of  this 
kind  of  garment  both  among  the  Israelites  and  Egyptians  are 
entirely  different,  is  in  the  highest  degree  uncertain.  That 
among  the  Israelites  cleanliness  is  the  ground  of  the  use  of  gar- 
ments of  linen  only,  and  the  prohibition  of  woolen  is  evident, 
from  Ex.  ch.  44:  17, 18,  The  same  thing  is  shown  by  B  a  h  r 
himself  To  the  same  cause  Herodotus,  the  oldest  wit- 
ness, traces  back  the  use  of  linen  garments  among  the  Egyp- 
tian priests.  Both  that  which  goes  before  the  clause  already 
quoted :  "  The  priests  wear  only  linen  garments."  and  also 
that  which  follows,  has  reference  to  the  cleanliness,  which  in 
the  estimation  of  the  Egyptian  priests  was  a  matter  of  so  much 
importance.  It  is  said  before :  The  Egyptians  are  exces- 
sively religious  above  all  other  people,  and  consequently 
practise  the  following  usages  :  They  drink  from  brazen  cups 
which  they  wash  out  thoroughly  every  day.  They  wear 
linen  garments  always  newly  washed,  with  regard  to  which 
they  take  peculiar  care.     They  also  practise  circumcision 


GARMENTS  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  157 

R)r  the  sake  of  cleanliness,  and  prefer  neatness  to  decorum. 
Moreover,  the  priests  shave  the  whole  body  each  third  day,  lest 
either  a  louse  or  any  other  vermin,  may  be  found  on  them, 
while  they  are  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  gods."  After 
follows:  "They  bathe  twice  a  day  in  cold  water  and  twice 
every  night." 

Plutarch*  who  lived  so  much  later,  upon  whom  B  a  h  r 
relies  for  support  in  his  claim  for  the  most  intimate  connex- 
ion of  the  linen  garments  of  the  Egyptian  priests  with  their 
peculiar  theology,  reasons  evidently  on  his  own  way,  without 
reference  to  the  priests,  and  as  the  comparison  with  P  h  i  1  o  s- 
t  r  a  t  u  s  shows,  more  in  the  sense  of  the  new  Pythagoreans, 
than  of  the  Egyptian  priests.  Besides,  he  also  represents  the 
linen  as  a  pure  garment  which  least  of  all  generates  vermin,  t 

But  the  reason  assigned  by  B  a  h  r  is  not  even  reconcilable 
with  the  Egyptian  law.  The  contempt  for  animal  material 
in  itself,  accords  not  with  the  divine  honor  which  in  Egypt 
was  shown  to  animals.  That  the  killing  of  animals  in  gen- 
eral in  Egypt  was  considered  as  unallowed,  is  entirely 
incorrect.  Animals  were  sacrificed  and  eaten  in  Egypt 
without  scruple. 

How  one  can  suppose  in  his  zeal  for  the  vindication  of  the 
Bible,  that  it  is  necessary  to  contend  against  the  dependence 
of  the  Israelitish  upon  the  Egyptian  priests'  garments,  can 
scarcely  be  conceived.  The  more  original,  independent  and 
peculiar  the  Israelitish  religion  was  in  spirit,  the  less  necessity 
had  it  to  avoid  with  timid  care,  every  external  contact  with 
the  religions  of  other  nations,  the  more  freely  could  it  appro- 
priate to  itself  the  suitable  existing  forms,  and  the  more  un- 
trammelled might  it  avail  itself  of  the  advantages  which 
familiarity  with  the  religion  of  Egypt  offered. 

But  we  consider  it  certain  that  the  Israelitish  priests' 
garments  in  respect  to  material  and  color,  were  made  in  im- 

*  De  Iside  et  Osir.  p.  352.  ~ 

t  Ka&aQav  ia&TJra  yxioza  (f&eiQonoiov. 

14 


158  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

itation  of  those  of  the  Egyptian  priests.  Their  independence 
of  each  other  is  excluded,  since  in  reference  to  these  particular 
circumstances,  these  two  nations  stand  alone  in  all  antiquity. 
The  thought  of  an  inverted  order  of  things  is,  in  addition 
to  the  general  reasons  already  given,  impossible,  since  the 
priesthood  in  Egypt,  according  to  expressions  in  the  Penta- 
teuch itself,  had  already  long  existed  when  that  of  the  Israel- 
ites was  instituted,  the  material  of  the  clothing  is  peculiarly 
Egyptian,  and  the  garment  of  byssus  even  in  the  time  of 
Joseph,  appears  as  the  most  common  Egyptian  clothing.* 
Thus,  we  have  an  important  result  in  favor  of  the  Pentateuch. 
Such  a  reference  to  Egyptian  customs  can  only  be  supposed, 
if  the  priesthood  was  instituted  in  the  circumstances  given 
in  the  Pentateuch ;  and  modern  views  of  the  origin  of  the 
Israelitish  priesthood  must  appear  as  entirely  untenable,  since 
in  the  time  to  which  this  is  referred,  so  close  a  connexion  did 
not  exist  between  the  Israelites  and  Egyptians  as  to  render  it 
possible  for  the  former  to  borrow  from  the  latter. 


URIM  AND  THUMMIM. 

The  Egyptian  reference  in  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  is 
especially  distinct  and  incontrovertible.  Of  them  it  is  said  : 
"And  you  shall  put  in  the  breast-plate  of  judgment  the  Urim 
and  the  Thummim  (the  light  and  the  truth) ;  and  they  shall 
be  on  Aaron's  heart  when  he  goeth  in  before  the  Lord;  and 
Aaron  shall  bear  the  judgment  of  the  children  of  Israel  upon 
his  heart  before  the  Lord  continually,"  Ex.  28: 30.  According 
to  A  e  1  i  a  n,t  he  high  priest  among  the  Egyptians,  as  superior 
judge,  wore  around  his  neck  an  image  of  Sapphire,  which  was 

*  Gen.  41:  42. 

t  Var.  Hist.  L.  14.  c.  34 :  jiiyvmiol  (paai  nag  'Equov  r«  v6/jLifji,tt 
i%fM>va(udiifi>ar  ontaoral  Se  to  (Iqx^^ov  naQ  AiyvnTioi?  oi  nQtii  jjoav 
tjv  $i  TOVTOJV  a.QX(fiv  6  TTQsa^vraTog  xal  edixatsv  aTravrag.    "Ehi  Sa 


URIM  AND    THUMMIM.  159 

called  truth.  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s*  also  confirms  this  fact.  Accor- 
ding to  him  the  chief  judge  (also  according  toDiodorus  the 
oiSce  of  judge  belonged  to  the  priests,t)  wore  around  his  neck 
an  image  of  costly  stones,  suspended  upon  a  gold  chain  which 
was  named  truth.  After  both  of  two  contending  parties  have 
laid  open  their  case  the  high  priest  must  touch  one  of  them 
with  the  image  of  truth.  The  same  authorf  in  describing 
an  Egyptian  wall-picture  shows  us  in  the  midst  of  the  judges, 
the  chief  judge,  "who  wears  suspended  from  his  neck  the 
truth  with  closed  eyes."  By  this  it  is  shown  that  the  chief 
judge  must  see  only  the  truth.  These  declarations  of  the 
ancients  have  received  confirmation  from  the  new  discoveries 
in  Egypt.  In  proof  of  the  statement  ofDiodorus,  Rosel- 
1  ini§  says:  "Among  the  monuments  of  the  tombs,  repre- 
sentations of  persons  are  found  who  filled  the  office  of  chief 
judge,  and  who  wore  the  common  little  image  of  the  goddess 
Thmei  suspended  from  the  neck.  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o n|l  gives  from 
the  Theban  monuments  an  engraving  of  the  goddess  who  was 
honored  under  the  double  character  of  truth  and  justice,  and 
was  represented  with  closed  eyes. 

That  a  connection  here  exists  between  Egyptian  and 
Israelitish  antiquity,  even  the  Seventy  probably  perceived, 
since  in  Ex.  28:  30,  they  translated  Urim  and  Thummim, 
by  revelation  and  truth,  ^/jAwo-i^  koI  dXydsia.  This  relation 
also  forced  itself  even  upon  the  ancient  theologians.  B  r  aun,^ 
for  example,  supposes  that  the  Egyptians  probably  borrowed 
this  symbol  from  the  Israelites. 

But  recently  Bah  r**  has  denied  that  there  is  any  connec- 

avTov  aivat  dcxaiorarov  civ&^ojTtojv  aal  acpetdeotarov  sixs  Ss  xal 
ayaX/Lia  nsQi  rov  av^iva  ax  aan(pUQOv  Xid'ov  xal  ixaKaito  rb  ayaXfia 
d?,7Jd'sia. 

*B.  31.  c.  75.  t  See  Wesseling  on  this  passage. 

tB.  I.e.  48.  §11.  3.  p.  500.  II  II. p.  27. 

IT  De  Vestitu,  p.  598.  ^*  Symb.  II.  S.  164. 


160  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tion  between  the  two.  The  agreement,  he  asserts,  depends 
on  no  other  crroimd  than  the  acknowledged  false  translation 
of  Thummirn  by  the  Seventy,  as  meaning  truth.  But  this 
"acknowledged  false  translation"  since  the  word  means  per- 
fectness  or  blamelessness  in  the  moral  sense,  is  proved  on 
closer  examination  to  be  as  completely  correct,  as  the  explana- 
tion given  by  B  a  h  r  is  on  the  other  hand  false.* 

Besides,  remarks  B  a  h  r,  there  is  nothing  more  incongru- 
ous than  the  significance  of  the  Urim  and  Thummirn  when 
compared  with  that  badge  of  the  judge,  which  evidently  points 
to  impartiality  as  his  first  duty.  But  the  moral  significance 
which  later  Greek  writers,  according  to  their  custom,  give 
the  symbol  is  not  certainly  the  first  and  most  important  one. 
That  symbol  has  first  and  principally  a  promissory  significance. 
It  refers  to  the  special  aid  of  the  goddess  of  truth  and  justice, 
which  the  high-priest  and  chief  judge  enjoyed.  On  the  other 
hand  the  promissory  significance  does  not  exclude  the  moral 
one  in  the  Israelitish  symbol.  Upon  the  promise  follows  of 
itself  rather  the  admonition.  How  intimately  both  are  con- 
nected is  shown  hy  Deut.  33:  8,  9,  in  which  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  given  to  the  tribe  of  Levi  is  considered  as  a  pledge 
that  God  will  guide  him  in  the  decisions  given  in  his  name, 

*  According  to  Jiiin,  (See  S.  165,)  the  word  cin  must  mean  com- 
pleteness, and  c*^£P  in  connection  with  t"-i;is  is  a  subordinate,  acces- 
sory idea,  both  together  meaning  perfect  illumination.  The  suppo- 
sition of  such  a  hendyadis,  besides  that  it  is  in  itself  very  harsh,  and 
confirmed  by  no  entirely  analogous  example,  is  excluded  by  Deut. 
33:  8,  where  t:•>^^  stands  first :  "  Thy  Thummim  and  thy  Urim  belong 
to  thy  holy  one."  The  Urim  (the  plur.  is  the  plur.  majest.,  compare 
Beitrage  Th.  2.  S.  258,)  therefore,  refers  to  divine  illumination,  the 
Thummim  to  the  perfect  rectitude  of  the  decision  given  by  him,  and 
integrity  and  truth  are  the  designations  of  the  same  thing  considered 
from  a  different  point  of  view.  The  circumstance  that  c*-]ss  is  used 
unaccompanied  by  Thummim  is  very  easily  explained  also  by  the 
moral  element  compreliended  in  the  latter.  Light  has  right  and  truth 
as  its  necessary  concomitants,  so  that  the  Urim  comprehends  the 
Thummim  in  itself. 


URIM  AND    THUMMIM.  161 

and  then  it  is  said  :  "  who  says  unto  his  father  and  to  his 
mother,  I  saw  thee  not,  and  his  brother  he  recognizes  not,  and 
his  children  he  does  not  know,"  words  which  in  a  striking 
manner,  remind  one  of  the  Egyptian  image  of  the  goddess  of 
justice  with  closed  eyes,  and  of  the  statues  of  the  judges  at 
Thebes  mentioned  in  Plutarch*  without  hands  with  their 
president  at  their  head,  having  his  eyes  directed  to  the 
ground. 

How  any  one  could  ever  suppose  that  a  denial  of  the  affin- 
ity of  these  Egyptian  and  Israelitish  symbols  is  of  any  impor- 
tance in  the  vindication  of  the  truth,  can  hardly  be  conceived. 
Through  the  outward  similarity  the  internal  difference  is 
more  clearly  exhibited.  As  among  the  Egyptians  the  author 
of  truth  appears  to  be  a  mere  personified  abstraction,  an 
image  of  their  own  fancy  which  can  never  have  a  true  and 
perfect  power  over  its  own  producer,  on  the  contrary,  among 
the  Israelites  he  is  the  only,  the  living,  the  one  God  manifest 
among  his  own  people. 

It  is  an  important  difference,  that  among  the  Egyptians  the 
symbol  appears  to  have  referred  merely  to  judging  in  its  nar- 
rower sense,  while  the  Urim  and  Thummim  was  a  symbol  of 
the  judicial  office  in  a  broader  sense,  promising  generally  to 
the  high-priest  divine  assistance  in  difficult  and  important 
decisions,  especially  such  as  have  reference  to  the  weal  and 
woe  of  the  whole  people. 


THE  CHERUBIM  AND  THE  SPHINXES. 

The  affinity  of  the  cherubim  with  the  Egyptian  Sphinxes 
is  more  doubtful,  yet  it  is  so  only  just  so  long  as  we  consider 
the  thing  merely  by  itself,  and  leave  out  of  the  account  the 
numerous  other  points  of  contact  between  the  Pentateuch 

^  De  Isid.  et  Os.     See  Wilk.  II:  28. 
14* 


162  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

and  Egypt.     If  these  are  taken  into  view,  the  similarity  is 
sufficient  to  warrant  here  also  such  an  alliance. 


The  Figure  and  Significance  of  the  Sphinxes. 

We  begin  with  some  remarks  upon  the  figure  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  Egyptian  sphinxes.  As  respects  the  figure,  it 
was  the  current  belief,  in  all  antiquity,  that  the  sphinx  was  com- 
posed of  the  lion  and  a  young  female,  and  recently,  Bahr* 
has  argued,  on  this  supposition,  against  the  affinity  of  the 
cherub  with  the  sphinxes.  This  opinion  has  also  been  yet 
more  confirmed  by  the  scholars  of  the  French  expedition,  who, 
while  indeed  Herodotust  speaks  of  the  man-sphinx,  as- 
sertj:  that  all  the  sphinxes  with  human  heads  which  they 
saw,  except  one  near  the  pyramids,  had  the  head  of  a  female. 
This  is  also  in  accordance  with  A  e  1  i  an.  On  the  contrary, 
the  latest  investigations  of  Egyptian  antiquity  have  come  to 
the  result,  that  the  Egyptian  sphinxes  are  never  female,  like 
those  of  the  Greeks,  but  always  have  the  head  of  a  man  and 
the  body  of  a  lion.  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n§  asserts  this  very  confi- 
dently ;  as  also  R  o  s  e  11  i  n  i,l|  who  remarks :  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  very  few  cases  the  sphinxes  have  a  beard.  It  is 
consequently  not  true,  as  some  affirm,  led  into  error  by  the 
Greek  and  Roman  sphinxes  copied  from  those  in  Egypt,  that 
these  symbolic  animals  have  the  face  of  a  female.  They  are 
rather  of  male  sex,  which  accords  with  their  symbolic  import. 
The  few  exceptions  are  accounted  for  by  supposing,  that  they 
symbolize  a  queen  who  reigned  at  the  time.  Each  of  these 
symbolic  figures  bears  on  the  breast  or  some  other  part  of 
the  body,  the  name  and  title  of  the  king  whom  they  designate, 
and  whose  features  the  human  head  exhibits.  The  sphinxes 
without  inscriptions  are  the  work  of  Grecian  or  Roman  artists. 

*  Th.  1.  S.  3.'j8.  +  B.  2.  c  175. 

X  See  Dcscr.  t.  2.  p.  575.  §  Vol.  III.  p.  23. 

II  II.  2.  p.  177-8. 


IMPORT  OP  THE  SPHINXES.  163 

Even  before  both  these  authors,  M  i  n  u  t  o  1  i*  had  remarked  : 
"The  sphinxes  have  either  bodies  of  lions  with  human  faces, 
without  however  a  trace  of  the  female  figure,  or  the  heads 
of  rams." 

We  will  now  speak  of  the  import  of  the  sphinxes.  It  is 
acknowledged  that  the  Egyptian  animal  combinations,  in 
general  depending  upon  a  symbolic  significance,  designate 
the  union  of  different  characteristic  properties  which,  by  each 
part,  the  animal  made  up  will  represent.  So  says  J  o  m  a  r  d  :t 
"  They  have  excelled  not  less  in  the  combination  of  differ- 
ent figures  of  animals,  in  order  to  compose  chimerical  beings, 
expressing  without  doubt  the  reunion  of  the  properties  attri- 
buted to  each  of  these  figures."  C  r  e  u  z  e  r|  also  remarks  : 
"Upon  this  Egyptian  coin  of  the  time  of  the  emperor  Adrian, 
we  see  the  beardless  sphinx  with  the  lotus  on  its  head.  The 
front  part  of  its  body  is  covered  with  a  veil  down  to  the  feet. 
Out  of  its  breast  there  is  leaping  forth  the  inverted  head  of  a 
crocodile,  under  its  feet  crawls  a  serpent,  and  upon  its  back 
a  griffon  appears  with  the  wheel !  There  are,  therefore,  here 
the  different  attributes  of  the  godhead;  that  of  strength  and 
wisdom,  that  of  secret  control,  the  idea  of  eternity  and  of  a 
beneficent  guardian  angel,  etc.,  united  in  this  remarkable 
way;  and  this  representation  may  be  designated  by  the 
technical  term  Pantheum.^^ 

Now,  therefore,  the  sphinx  can  designate  nothing  else  than 
the  union  of  strength  and  wisdom,  and  this  import  has  also 
been  attributed  to  it  from  ancient  times  until  the  present, 
with  no  inconsiderable  agreement.^ 

*  S.  257.  t  In  the  Descr.  t.  1.  p.  311.  X  Vol.  I.  p  499. 

§  Thus  Clemens,  Alex.  Strom.  L.  5.  c.  8.  p.  671,  says :  "  aAw/s 
val  ^o'jfiTjq  Gin^SoXov  avToig  6  Xi(j}V.—  u4lx7fS  zs  av  [xhxa  ovviaaojg  t] 
acpiy^f  TO  fitv  oujfia  iidv  Uovto?j  to  iiqooomov  Ss  (xv&qojttov  I'yovoa. 
It  is  however  granted,  that  it  has  not  always  this  significance  ;  on 
the  contrary,  in  c.  5.  of  the  same  Vol.  p.  664,  its  import  is  different. 
Synesius,  De  Regno,  p.  7,  designates  the  sphinx  as  the  sacred  symbol 


164         EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

According  to  this  whole  view  then,  the  sphinx  symbolizes 
merely  the  union  of  the  two  designated  qualities;  whilst  the 
possessor  of  these  is  not  indicated  by  the  symbol  itself,  but 
can  be  known  only  by  the  position  in  which  the  sphinx  is 
found.  If  they  are  found,  as  they  commonly  are,  at  the  en- 
trance of  a  temple,  where  they  form  entire  rows*  on  each 
side,  they  designate  the  union  of  these  properties  in  the  deity 
to  whom  the  temple  is  dedicated.  If  they  are  found  around 
the  throne  of  the  king,  then  the  king  is  the  possessor  of  these 
attributes. 

On  the  contrary,  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  and  Wilkinson  assert, 
that  the  sphinx  designates  not  merely  qualities,  but  also  the 
king  as  the  possessor  of  them.  But  the  defenders  of  this 
modern  view  have  not  attempted  to  substantiate  its  claims 
in  opposition  to  the  old  theory,  and  we  do  not  see  how  they 
can  succeed  in  controverting  the  reasons  which  declare  for 
the  latter.  How  can  the  sphinx,  in  its  usual  position  before 
the  entrance  of  a  temple,  designate  the  king  ?  How  can  the 
human  face  be  understood  to  be  personal,  whilst  the  lion's 
body,  and  all  those  things  which  in  many  cases  are  added  to 
it,  as  the  hawk  and  vulture  hovering  over  the  sphinx,  be 
symbolical  ?  How  can  it  be  reconciled  with  this  supposi- 
tion, that  besides  the  common  sphinx  or  the  Andro-sphinx,  the 
Crio-sphinx  and  the  Hieraco-sphinx,  the  lion's  body  with 
the  ram's  or  hawk's  head,  are  found  ?t     That  which   is  ad- 

ofthe  union  of  the  virtues,  the  strength  of  the  animal  and  the  insight 
of  man.  Zoega,  De  Obeliscis,  p.  598,  says  :  Mens  cum  robore  con- 
juncta  primus  et  obvius  Aeg.  sphingis  significatus.  Champolhon, 
Briefe,  S.  229,  gives  a  similar  explanation  :  The  monarch  (Remeses 
Meiamun),  adorned  with  all  the  insignia  of  royalty,  sits  upon  a  beauti- 
ful throne,  which  the  golden  images  of  justice  and  truth  cover  with 
their  outstretched  wings :  the  sphinx,  a  symbol  both  of  wisdom  and 
strength,  and  the  lion,  the  emblem  of  courage,  stand  near  the  throne, 
and  seem  to  be  its  guardians. 

*  See  Descr.  t.  2.  p.  505  seq.     Creuzer,  I.  S.  498. 

t  Wilk.  Vol.  111.  p.  27. 


THE  CHERUBIM.  165 

duced  as  positive  proof  for  this  theory,  is  anything  but  deci- 
sive. It  rests  upon  the  supposition  that  all  sphinxes  bear 
the  name  and  title  of  a  king.  Allow  that  this  is  so,  when 
the  sphinx  is  intended  to  represent  royal  qualities,  cannot  the 
name  and  the  title  serve  directly  to  designate  the  possessor  of 
these  symbolized  qualities,  not  designated  by  the  symbol  it- 
self?* But  where  the  sphinx  has  a  religious  import,  there 
the  inscription  may  appropriately  immortalize  the  name  of  the 
king  who  built  the  temple.  Were  it  true,  that  the  human 
faces  of  the  sphinxes  represent  the  countenances  of  the  kings 
whose  name  they  bear,  it  might  be  accounted  for,  by  suppos- 
ing that  they  considered  the  face  of  the  king  as  the  most  no- 
ble representative  of  the  human  face. 


The  Cherubim — their  Form  and  Import. 

We  turn  to  the  cherubim.  That  this  symbol,  as  such, 
aside  from  its  significance,  which  includes  a  real,  original, 
Israelitish  element,  did  not  spring  up  on  Jewish  ground,  ap- 
pears probable  from  the  merely  scattered  notices  of  it  which 
are  found.  We  cannot,  however,  appropriate  to  ourselves 
the  argument  which  Bauer  has  adduced  in  favor  of  its 
foreign  origin,  namely,  that '  the  cherubim  was  not  first  intro- 
duced by  Moses,  since  the  law  speaks  of  it  in  a  manner  that 
it  could  not  do,  except  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  already 
definitely  known  among  the  people;'  for  indeed,  at  the  time 
in  which  the  law  was  written  down,  cherubs  with  all  the  ac- 
companying things,  for  which  Bauert  argues  in  like  man- 
ner, had  already  existed  a  long  time, — a  circumstance  which 
could  not  fail  to  modify  the  record,  and  cause  the  thing  to 


*  The  crown  also  and  other  symbols  of  royalty,  which  according  to 
Wilk.  Vol.  111.  p.  362,  are  said  to  be  often  represented  on  the  sphinx- 
es, are  for  the  same  purpose. 

t  Rel.  des  Alt.  Test.  Th.  I.  S.  300. 


166         EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

appear,  in  various  ways,  as  if  it  were  well  known  at  the  time 
of  its  introduction. 

We  are  specially  guided  to  the  Egyptian  origin  of  the  che- 
rubim, since  of  all  the  people  with  whom  the  Israelites  in 
ancient  times  were  closely  connected,  only  among  the  Egyp- 
tians are  compound  animals  found  in  history.  "Among  the 
Phoenician  animal  combinations,"  says  B  a  h  r,*  "  we  only 
recollect  Moloch."  But  the  information  that  the  image  of 
Moloch  had  a  bullock's  head  is  found  in  R.  S  i  m  on  H  a  d- 
darschan,  A.  D.  1310! ! t  And  in  like  manner,  it  is  of 
no  importance  what  is  found  in  the  same  author|  concerning 
compound  animals  among  the  Carthaginians. 

But  the  real  similarity  of  form  between  the  Hebrew  che- 
rubim and  the  Egyptian  sphinxes  is  of  greater  importance. 
Even  in  the  cherub  of  Ezekiel,  this  agreement  is  still  in  a 
considerable  degree  perceivable.  Two  of  the  same  elements, 
lion  and  man,  are  found  here  and  in  the  sphinx.  But  it  is 
generally  agreed  that  the  form  of  the  cherubim  in  Ezekiel  is 
not  the  original  one,  but  that  the  prophet,  as  from  his  whole 
character  cannot  be  supposed  improbable,  expanded  variously 
the  symbol.§  In  what  the  additions  and  changes  consisted 
is  difficult  to  determine,  since  we  possess  only  so  very  imper- 
fect notices  of  the  figure  of  the  Mosaic  cherubim. ||  But 
we  can  show,  with  great  probability,  from  Ezekiel  himself, 
that  the  changes  have  reference  to  just  those  things  in  which 
the  cherubim  of  Ezekiel  are  unlike  the  Egyptian  sphinxes. 
Thus,  while  the  cherubim  in  Ezek.  1:  10  appear  to  be  made 

*  I.  S.  358.  t  Compare  MUnter  Relig.  der  Carthag.  S.  9. 

t  S.  68. 

§  See,  e.  g.  among  the  ancient  writers,  Witsius  Egyptiaca,  p.  158, 
among  those  of  modern  times,  Bahr,  S.  311  ff. 

II  Witsius  remarks  correctly,  p.  155 :  Moses  speaks  of  the  form  as 
only  twofold,  primum  quod  passas  habuerint  alas  sursum  versus  quod- 
que  suis  alis  obtexerint  propitiatorium,  dein  quod  facies  habuerint  ob 
versus  sibi  mutuo  itemque  conversas  ad  propitiatorium. 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  CHERUBIM.  167 

up  of  four  elements,  and  have  four  faces,  that  of  a  man,  an 
ox,  a  lion  and  an  eagle;  in  Ez.  41:  18 — 20,  only  two  faces, 
that  of  a  man  and  of  a  lion,  are  ascribed  to  them.  Now  we 
may  certainly,  with  L  i  g  h  t  f  o  o  t  and  M  i  c  h  a  e  1  i  s,*  assume 
that  the  two  other  faces  are  to  be  considered  as  existing,  but 
not  in  sight,t  an  assumption  which  receives  confirmation 
from  Ez.  1;  10,  according  to  which  the  ox  and  the  eagle 
were  on  the  reverse  side.  But  yet  this  at  least  remains  in 
force,  that  in  the  cherubim  of  Ezekiel,  the  man  and  the  lion 
were  in  front,  and  therefore  when  placed  against  the  wall 
they  only  came  in  sight.  This  leads  us  to  the  result,  that 
the  change  before  spoken  of  by  Ezekiel,  consisted  in  his  ad- 
dition of  the  element  of  the  ox  and  the  eagle,  just  as  also  in 
the  sphinxes,  to  the  original  and  principal  elements,  the  lion 
and  man,  in  many  cases  others  are  also  added. |  Thus,  the 
form  of  the  cherubim  is  reduced  almost  to  that  of  the  sphinx. 
The  only  remaining  difference  of  importance,  namely,  that 
the  simple  cherub  yet  has  two  faces,  while  the  sphinx,  al- 
though composed  of  two  elements,  has  only  one,  is  probably 
also  to  be  set  to  the  account  of  Ezekiel.  That  the  Mosaic 
cherub  had  only  one  face  has  been  rightly  shown§  from  Ex. 
25:  20 :  "And  their  faces  shall  be  towards  one  another ;  to- 
wards the  mercy-seat  shall  the  faces  of  the  cherubim  be." 

As  respects  the  significance  of  the  cherubim,  their  real 
agreement  in  this  particular  with  the  Egyptian  sphinxes  can- 
not be  doubted,  and  the  difference  and  opposition  respects  not 
so  much  the  import  of  the  symbol,  as  rather  the  possessor  of  the 
qualities  signified  by  them.     "  The  cherub,"  remarks  B  a  h  r, 

*  Bibl.  Heb.  on  this  passage. 

t  Alias  quatuor,  quia  hie  duae  tantum  in  piano  apparebant.  Duae 
itaque  aliae  facias  coneipi  debent  quasi  parieti  obversae  et  ab  eo  ob- 
scuratae.     Latuit  facies  vitulina  a  sinistris  et  facies  aquilina  a  tergo. 

X  See  the  passage  cited  from  Creuzer,  S.  159. 

§  See,  e.  g.  Ges.  Thesaurus,  same  word. 


168  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

who  of  all  writers  has  comprehended  most  correctly  and  tho- 
roughly the  nature  of  this  symbol,  "  is  such  a  being  as  stand- 
ing on  the  highest  grade  of  created  existence,  and  containing 
in  itself  the  most  perfect  created  life,  is  the  best  manifestation 
of  God  and  the  divine  life.  It  is  a  representative  of  creation 
in  its  highest  grade,  an  ideal  creature.  The  vital  powers 
communicated  to  the  most  elevated  existences  in  the  visible 
creation  are  collected  and  individualized  in  it."  Accord- 
ingly the  difference  would  perhaps  consist  only  in  this,  that 
in  the  cherubim,  the  divine  properties  were  only  indirectly 
symbolized,  so  far  as  they  came  into  view  in  the  works  of 
creation,  whilst  in  the  sphinx,  directly,  a  difference  which 
cannot  be  considered  important. 


LEVITICUS,  CHAP.  XVI.       AZAZEL. 

An  Egyptian  reference,  it  appears  to  us,  must  necessarily 
be  acknowledged  in  the  ceremony  of  the  great  atonement  day. 
But  in  order  to  exhibit  this  reference,  we  must  first  substan- 
tiate our  view  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  bTNT?.,  Azazel, 
which  is,  that  it  designates  Satan.  And  this  can  only  be 
seen  at  a  right  point  of  view,  if  we  in  the  first  place,  in  a 
general  survey  of  the  whole  rite,  point  out  definitely  the  posi- 
tion which  the  word  Azazel  takes  in  it. 

First,  in  verses  1 — 10  the  general  outlines  are  given,  and 
then  follows  in  v.  11  seq.  the  explanation  of  separate  points. 
It  is  of  no  small  importance  for  the  interpretation,  that  this 
arrangement,  a  knowledge  of  which  has  escaped  most  inter- 
preters, be  understood.  Aaron  first  offers  a  bullock  as  a 
sin-offering  for  himself  and  his  house.  He  then  takes  a  fire- 
pan full  of  coals  from  the  altar,  with  fragrant  incense,  and 
goes  within  the  vail.  There  he  puts  the  incense  on  the  fire 
before  the  Lord,  and  *'  the  cloud  of  the  incense  (the  embodied 
prayer)  covers  the  mercy-seat  which   is  upon  the  testimony, 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  169 

that  he  die  not."  Aaron  then  takes  of  the  blood  of  the  bullock 
and  sprinkles  it  seven  times  before  the  mercy-seat.  After  he 
has  thus  completed  the  expiation  for  himself,  he  proceeds  to 
the  expiation  for  the  people.  He  takes  two  he-goats  for  a  sin- 
offering,  n^t^nb  ,  for  the  children  of  Israel,  verse  5.  These 
he  places  before  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation,  verse  7.  He  casts  lots  upon  them,  one  lot  for 
the  Lord,  rtlh"*b  ,  and  one  lot  for  Azazel,  bT^(T5>b  ,  verse  8. 
The  goat  upon  which  the  lot  for  the  Lord,  Snrfb,  fell,  verse 
9,  he  offers  as  a  sin-offering,  brings  his  blood  within  the  vail 
and  does  with  it  as  with  the  blood  of  the  bullock.  In  this  way 
is  the  sanctuary  purified  from  the  defilements  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  their  transgressions  and  all  their  sins,  so  that  the  Lord, 
the  holy  one  and  pure,  can  continue  to  dwell  there  with  them. 
After  the  expiation  is  completed,  the  second  goat,  the  one  on 
which  the  lot  for  Azazel,  b.T^iTy?,  fell,  is  brought  forward, 
verse  10.  He  is  first  placed  before  the  Lord  to  absolve  him, 
Vlry  ns^b.*  Then  Aaron  lays  both  his  hands  upon  his 
head,  and  confesses  over  him  the  (forgiven)  iniquities,  trans- 
gressions and  sins  of  the  children  of  Israel,  puts  them  upon 
his  head,  and  gives  him  to  a  man  to  take  away,  in  order  that 
he  may  bear  the  sins  of  the  people  into  a  solitary  land,t  verse 
22,  into  the  desert,  for  Azazel,  verse  10.  Then  Aaron  of- 
fers a  burnt-offering  for  himself,  and  one  for  the  people. 

Now,  in  respect  to  language,  there  can  be  no  objection  to 
interpreting  Azazel  as  meaning  Satan.  The  exposition  be- 
low shows  this  conclusively.! 

*  Verse  10,  with  16  and  18. 

t  nnp  7'^.^'.""^'!^ »  literally,  in  terrain  abscissani,  sc.  a  terra  habitata. 
The  Seventy  :  sig  yijv  a^arov.     Vulgate  :  in  terrain  solitariam. 

/   /  / 

t  That  the    Hebrew  root  hiv  corresponds  to  the  Arabic  JjC  , 

as  was  asserted  by  Bochart  as  early  as  his  time,  and  afterwards  by 
Schroder  in  Scheid  and  Groenewood,  Lex.  Hebr.  II.  397,  is  now  gen- 
erally acknowledged.     Vti^ty  (for  hfhiy)  belongs  to  the  form  which 

15  " 


170  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES, 

But  this  explanation,  as  far  as  facts  in  the  case  are  con- 
cerned, is  in  like  manner  exposed  to  no  well  grounded  ob- 
jections. The  doctrinal  significance  of  the  symbolic  action, 
so  far  as  it  has  reference  to  Azazel,  is  this,  that  Satan,  the 
enemy  of  the  people  of  God,  cannot  harm  those  forgiven  by 
God,  but  they,  with  sins  forgiven  of  God,  can  go  before  him 
with  a  light  heart,  deride  him  and  triumph  over  him. 

The  positive  reasons,  which  favor  this  explanation  and 
oppose  every  other,  are  the  following  : 

1.  The  manner  in  which  the  phrase  bTNti^b,  for  Azazel, 
is  contrasted  with  ^ih"^b  ,  for  Jehovah,  necessarily  requires 
that  Azazel  should  designate  a  personal  existence  and  if 
so,  only  Satan  can  be  intended.  2.  If  by  Azazel,  Satan 
is  not  meant,  there  is  no  reason  for  the  lots  that  were 
cast.  We  can  then  see  no  reason  why  the  decision  was 
referred  to  God,  why  the  high  priest  did  not  simply  as- 
sign one  goat  for  a  sin  offering,  the  other  for  sending  away 

repeats  the  second  and  third  radicals.  In  reference  to  this  form 
Ewald  in  his  smaller  Grammar,  §  333,  remarks  :  "  The  form  indeed 
also  expresses  general  intension,  but  the  idea  of  continual,  regular 
repetition,  without  interruption,  is  also  especially  expressed  by  the 
repetition  of  nearly  the  whole  word.'"     In  reference  to  the   meaning 

/  /  / 
of  the  word  we  are  referred  to  the  Arabic.     The  word  ^jfC-  signi- 
fies in  that  language,  semovit,  dimovit,  removit,  descivit ;  in  the  pass 

remotus,  depositus  fuit ;  and  the  part,  ijr ^  means,  a  ceteris  se  se- 

•5  /  c  5       5    >  c  V 

jungens.  In  like  manner,  Jt-'C)  ,  tj^r^^  signify,  semotus,  re- 
motus, abdicatus.  Accordingly  two  explanations  of  VtSiTS  relating 
to  Satan  are  furnished,  either  the  apostate  (from  God)  or  the  one  en- 
tirely separate.  It  is  in  favor  of  the  latter,  1.  that  the  signification, 
descivit,  is  only  a  derived  one,  and  2.  that  it  is  appropriate  to  the 
abode  in  the  desert.  The  goat  is  sent  to  Azazel,  in  the  desert,  in  the 
divided  land  (terram  abscissam).  How  could  he  then  be  designated 
by  a  more  appropriate  name  than  the  separate  one  ? 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  171 

into  the  desert.  The  circumstance  that  lots  are  cast,  implies 
that  Jehovah  is  made  the  antagonist  of  a  personal  existence, 
with  respect  to  which  it  is  designed  to  exalt  the  unlimited  power 
of  Jehovah,  and  exclude  all  equality  of  this  being  with  Jeho- 
vah. 3.  Azazel,  as  a  word  of  comparatively  infrequent  form- 
ation and  only  used  here,  is  best  fitted  for  the  designation  of 
Satan.  In  every  other  explanation,  the  question  remains, 
why  then  (as  it  has  every  appearance  of  being)  is  the  word 
formed  for  this  occasion,  and  why  is  it  never  found  except 
here  ? 

4.  By  this  explanation  the  third  chaper  of  Zechariah  comes 
into  a  relation  with  our  passage,  entirely  like  that  in  which 
chap.  iv.  of  the  same  prophecy  stands  to  Exod.  chap.  25:  31. 
Here  as  there,  the  Lord,  Satan  and  the  high-priest  appear. 
Satan  wishes  by  his  accusations  to  destroy  the  favorable 
relations  between  the  Lord  and  his  people.  The  high-priest 
presents  himself  before  the  Lord  not  with  a  claim  of  purity, 
according  to  law,  but  laden  with  his  own  sins  and  the  sins  of  the 
people.  Here  Satan  thinks  to  find  the  safest  occasion  for  his 
attack,  but  he  mistakes.  Forgiveness  baffles  his  designs  ; 
he  is  compelled  to  retire  in  confusion.*  It  is  evident  that 
the  doctrinal  import  of  both  passages  is  substantially  the  same, 
and  the  one  in  Zechariah  may  be  considered  as  the  oldest 
commentary  extant  on  the  words  of  Moses.  In  substance 
v/e  have  the  same  scene  also  in  the  Apocalypse,  12:  10,  11 : 
"  The  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down,  who  accuses 
them  before  our  God  day  and  night,  and  they  overcome  him 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 

5.  The  relation  in  which,  according  to  our  explanation, 
Satan  is  here  placed  to  the  desert,  finds  analogy  in  other 
passages  of  the  Bible,  where  the  deserted  and  waste  places 
appear  as  peculiarly  the  abode  of  the  evil  spirit.  See  Matt. 
12:  43,  where  the  unclean  spirit  cast  out  from  the  man  is  repre- 

^  Christol.  Th.  S.  33  seq. 


172  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

sented  as  going  through  "dry  places,"  Luke  8:  27,  and  Apoc- 
alypse 18:  2,  according  to  which  the  fallen  Babylon  is  to  be 
the  dwelling  of  all  unclean  spirits.  6.  To  the  reasons  already 
given  the  Egyptian  reference  which  the  rite  has  according  to 
this  explanation,  may  be  added — a  reference  which  is  so  re- 
markable that  no  room  can  remain  for  the  thought  that  it  has 
arisen  through  false  explanation. 

Among  the  objections  to  this  explanation  the  one  which  is 
most  important,  and  has  exerted  the  most  influence  is  this, 
that  it  gives  a  sense  which  stands  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
spirit  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah.  It  was  this  objection  which 
made  so  many  of  the  ancient  theologians  disinclined  to  inter- 
pret the  passage  as  we  have  done.* 

The  objections  which  so  many  in  modern  times,  even  as 
late  as  Bahr  have  cherished  against  this  interpretation,  pro- 
ceed almost  entirely  from  this  point.  Most  of  its  opposers 
expressly  declare  themselves  as  of  the  same  opinion  with 
Bau  mgarten-Crusius,  who  in  his  Biblical  Theologyt 
says :  "  In  fact,  could  an  offering  properly  be  made  to  the  evil 
spirit,  in  the  desert,  which  the  common  precepts  of  religion 
in  the  Mosaic  law  as  well  as  the  significance  of  this  ceremony 
entirely  oppose?" 

Now,  were  it  really  necessary  to  connect  with  the  expla- 
nation of  Azazel  as  meaning  Satan,  the  assumption  that 
sacrifice  was  offered  to  him,  we  should  feel  obliged  to  abandon 
it,  notwithstanding  all  the  reasons  in  its  favor.     Especially  in 

*Deyling,  e.  g.  who  after  he  has  been  candid  enough  to  remark,  in 
the  Obss.  Sac.  1  p.  .50:  Lamed  Jehovae  et  Azazeli  prefixum  casum 
eundem,  nempe  dativum  notat,  nee  possunt  ei  significationes  diversae 
in  eodem  commate  attribui,yet,  p.  51,  shrinks  back  from  the  explanation 
of  Azazel  as  meaning  Satan,  with  these  words  :  Quid  fingi  potest 
ineptius  absurdiusque,  quam  doum  ex  duobus  hircis  altcrum  sibi, 
alterum  diabolo  dcstinasse  et  oft'eri  jussisse.  Nonne  Lev.  17:  7,  sacri- 
ficare  daemonibus  expressis  verbis  vetat  ?  Lund  also  gives  a  similar 
explanation,  S.  103*^. 

t  S,  21t4. 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  173 

the  manner  in  which  G  e  s  e  n  i  u  s*  understands  the  passage, 
it  presents  an  opposition  to  the  the  vital  being  of  the  religion 
of  Jehovah,  so  atrociously  unjust,  that  whoever  adopts  this 
cannot  think  of  assenting  to  that. 

But  nothing  is  easier  than  to  show  that  this  manner  of 
understanding  the  explanation  is  entirely  arbitrary.  The 
following  reasons  prove  that  an  offering  made  to  Azazel 
cannot  be  supposed : 

1.  Both  the  goats  were  designated  in  verse  5  as  a  sin- 
offering.  ''And  from  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  he  shall  take  two  goats  for  a  sin-offering."  That 
these  goats  were  taken  together  as  forming  unitedly  one  sin- 
offering  wholly  excludes  the  thought,  that  one  of  them  was 
brought  as  an  offering  to  Jehovah  and  the  other  as  an  offering 
to  Azazel ;  and  further  an  offering  which  is  given  to  a  bad 
being  can  indeed  never  be  a  sin-offering.  The  idea  of  a  sin- 
offering  implies  holiness,  hatred  of  sin  in  the  one  to  whom 
the  offering  is  made.t 

*  In  Robinson's  Gesenius,  p.  751,  it  is  said:  Irender  it  (V^lii'jS)  with- 
out hesitation,  the  averter,  the  expiator,  averruncus  aXe^iHaxog.  By 
this  name  1  suppose  is  to  be  understood  originally  some  idol  that  was 
appeased  with  sacrifices ;  but  afterwards,  as  the  names  of  idols  were 
often  transferred  to  demons,  it  seems  to  denote  an  evil  demon  dwelling 
in  the  desert,  and  to  be  placated  with  victims,  in  accordance  with  this 
very  ancient  and  also  gentile  rite. 

t  It  is  acknowledged  that  this  reason  would  lose  its  force,  if  it  were 
allowable,  with  Bahr,  S.  679,  to  generalize  the  meaning  of  nt^tah  . 
it  need  not,  he  remarks,  be  taken  in  its  most  limited  sense,  as  a  sin- 
oifering,  but  it  may  be  translated  in  a  general  way,  as  the  Seventy 
have  done,  by  nsQc  a/ua^ziag ;  Aaron  shall  take  the  two  goats  on 
account  of  sin.  But  this  generalizing,  of  which  even  the  Seventy 
had  no  conception,  we  must  consider  as  entirely  arbitrary.  The  word 
rstijn  has  everywhere  only  the  two  significations,  sin  and  sin-offer- 
ing, (compare  Ges.  Thes.  s.  v.,)  and  since  the  first  here  is  not  suitable, 
only  the  last  can  be  understood.  That  this  sense  is  the  correct  one  here, 
can  the  less  be  doubted,  since  the  word  is  so  often  used  in  the  con- 
text itself  with  this  meaning.     It  is  especially  required  by  the  antith- 

15* 


174  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

2.  Both  the  goats  were  first  placed  at  the  gate  of  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation,  before  the  Lord.  To  him  therefore 
they  both  belong,  and  when  afterwards  one  of  them  is  sent  to 
Azazel,  this  is  done  in  accordance  with  the  wish  of  Jehovah 
and  also  without  destroying  the  original  relation,  since  the 
one  sent  to  Azazel  does  not  cease  to  belong  to  the  Lord. 

3.  The  casting  of  lots  also  shows  that  both  these  goats  are  to 
be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  Lord.  The  lot  is  never 
used  in  the  Old  Testament  except  as  a  means  of  obtaining 
the  decision  of  Jehovah.  So  then,  here  also,  Jehovah  decides 
which  goat  is  to  be  offered  as  a  sin-offering  and  which  shall 
be  sent  to  Azazel.* 

4.  The  goat  assigned  to  Azazel,  before  he  is  sent  away  is 
absolved  :  "And  the  goat  upon  whom  the  lot  falls  for  Azazel, 
shall  be  placed  alive  before  the  Lord  in  order  to  absolve  him,t 

esis  between  l-it^tah  and  nVV',  inverses.  Who  can  doubt  that  in 
the  connexion  with  burnt-offering  so  frequently  occurring  nstari 
must  designate  sin-offering?  Just  the  same  connection  of  nsttahV 
and  n^iyV  ,  we  also  have  in  verse  3. 

*  The  last  two  reasons  are  stated  even  by  Rabbi  Bechai  upon  this 
passage,  quoted  in  Mauritius,  De  Sortione  Hebraeorum,  p.  35  :  Uter- 
que  hircus  isle  erat  oblatio  domini,  ad  indicandum  non  debere  nos 
aliter  cogitare  de  utroque,  quam  soli  deo  benedicto  esse  oblatum,  atque 
ideo  sacerdos  statim  ab  initio  hujus  operis  duas  res  istas  fecit :  nimirum 
obtulit  utrumque  hircorum  in  oblationem  dei  et  projiciebat  sortes  su- 
per illos  :  resenim  ilia,  quae  opera  sortitionis  dividitur,  est  portio,  quae 
a  domino  venit,  uti  scriptum  exstat :  in  sinu  projicitur  sors  et  a  deo 
omnis  ejus  causa.  Quodsi  enim  sacerdos  ipse  ore  tenus  sanctificasset 
eos  dicens  :  hie  est  dei  et  hie  est  Asaselis,  tunc  utramque  rem  similem 
fecisset,  quomodo  autem  non  facere  licet.  Jam  vero,  cum  medio  sortis 
hoc  factum  sit,  en  deus  ipse  Asaseli  hircum  dedicat,  atque  ita  ab  ipso 
veniebat  hircus  ad  eum,  sicque  deus  ipse  electionem  faciebat,  non  nos. 

t  The  endeavor  to  give  a  different  sense  to  these  words  is  vain. 
The  proposition  V?  accompanying  -iE3  designates  always  and  without 
exception  the  object  of  sin,  (compare  BJlhr,  S.  683,)  and  even  in  this 
same  chapter  -£5  with  V^  is  so  used.  Even  Cocceius  says  that  he 
cannot  find  that  iDD  with  V^  is  used  otherwise,  nisi  vel  de  personis. 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVt.  176 

I'^'by^^SSb,  and  then  send  him  to  Azazel  in  the  desert." 
The  act  by  which  the  second  goat  is,  as  it  were,  identified 
with  the  first,  to  transfer  to  the  living  the  nature  which  the 
dead  possessed,  shows  to  what  the  phrase  *  For  a  sin-offer- 
ing' in  verse  5  has  reference,  and  what  Spencer  indeed  per- 
ceived,— the  two  goats,  says  he,  are  as  it  were,  one  goat, — 
that  the  duality  of  the  goats  rests  only  on  the  physical  impos- 
sibility of  making  one  example  represent  the  different  points 
to  be  exhibited.  Had  it  been  possible,  in  the  circumstan- 
ces, to  restore  life  to  the  goat  that  was  sacrificed,  this  would 
have  been  done.  The  two  goats  in  this  connexion,  stand  in 
a  relation  entirely  similar  to  that  of  the  two  birds  in  the  pu- 
rification of  the  leprous  person  in  Lev.  1:  4,  of  which  the 
one  let  go  was  dipped  in  the  blood  of  the  one  slain.  As  soon 
as  the  second  goat  is  considered  as  an  offering  to  Azazel,  the 
connection  between  it  and  the  first  ceases,  and  it  cannot  be 
conceived  why  it  was  absolved  before  it  was  sent  away. 

5.  According  to  verse  21,  the  already  forgiven  sins  of 
Israel  are  laid  on  the  head  of  the  goat.  These  he  bears  to 
Azazel  in  the  desert.  But  where  there  is  already  forgiveness 
of  sins,  there  is  no  more  offering. 

6.  The  goat  is  sent  alive  into  the  desert.  But  in  accord- 
ance with  the  view  of  the  thing  in  the  Old  Testament,  no 
animal  offering  is  made  without  the  shedding  of  blood. 

Thus,  therefore,  this  first  and  principal  objection  to  the 
interpretation  of  Azazel  by  Satan  is  to  be  considered  as  fully 
confuted.*     What  Bah  r  remarks:  "  Now  if  we  understand 

pro  quibus  expiatio  facta,  vel  de  instimmentis  cultus  sacri  altari  et 
similibus. 

*  It  is  worth  while  to  consider  also  what  Schroder,  De  Azazele  Marb. 
1725.  S.  .31,  adduces  for  the  intimate  relation  which  the  two  goats 
sustain  to  each  other :  Notari  et  hoc  inprirais  meretur,  ambos  hircos 
in  ipsa  consecratione  ita  fuisse  sibi  mutuo  implexos,  ut  neutrius  ritus 
seorsim  absolvendi,  sed  utriusque  cerimoniae  pariter  inchoandae,  al- 
ternjs  vicibus  administrandae  et  junctim  quasi  consummandae  unius 


176  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

Azazel  as  a  personal  superhuman  being,  opposed  to  Jehovah, 
the  text,  verse  8,  does  not  permit  us  to  understand  the  phrase, 
for  Azazel,  in  an  entirely  different  sense  from  that,  for  Jeho- 
vah ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  an  offer- 
ing in  the  second  goat,  as  well  as  in  the  first,  both  before  in 
verse  5  are  particularly  represented  as  appointed  for  a  sin- 
offering,"* — will  not  easily  lead  any  one  into  error.  What 
B  a  h  r  here  adduces  as  an  argument  against  the  interpretation 
approved  by  us,  far  more  strongly  opposes  his  own,  and  every 
other  explanation,  than  that  by  Satan.  We  can,  I  think, 
at  least,  which  is  the  first  point  insisted  on,  understand  the 
ir  in  rfTn'^b  and  in  ^tiXTrb  ,  as  in  the  same  grammatical  con- 
struction. According  to  our  interpretation,  one  animal,  at 
least  in  a  certain  sense,  belongs  to  Jehovah,  and  the  other  to 
Azazel.  The  demand  that  both  shall  belong  in  precisely  the 
same  sense  as  offerings  to  the  one  and  to  the  other  is  entirely 
inadmissible,  since  the  contrary  is  expressly  said.  The  goat 
which  fell  to  the  share  of  the  Lord,  is  indeed,  according  to 
verse  9,  offered  to  him  as  a  sin-offering,  the  one  which  fell  to 
Azazel  is,  according  to  verse  10,  first  absolved  and  then  sent 
alive  to  him.  The  hypothesis  of  Bah r  is  not  wholly  with- 
out foundation.     The  symbol  is  intended  to  exhibit  diversity 

piacuh  sacra  referre  videantur.  Uterque  accipitur  quasi  unus,  ad 
Aharonem  adducitur,  coram  domino  sistitur,  utriusque  sors  ducitur : 
tunc  unus  mactatur,  ej usque  sanguis  spargitur ;  alter  impositis  cum 
prece  manibus  dimittitur  :  dum  illius  exta  exemta  super  altari,  caro 
cum  pelle  extra  castra  cremantur,  hie  in  desertum  loeuni  abducitur 
sicque  ambo  una  expediuntur.  Praecedebat  alias  in  sacrificiis  piacu- 
laribus  simplicibus,  una  tantum  victima  constantibus  manuum  impo- 
sitio  mactationem }  quod  inconveniens  plane  esset  jugulato  animali  eo 
ritu  peccata  imponere  :  sed  quod  hoc  sacrificium  et  mori  et  superstes 
esse  deberet,  unius  hirci  morte  ac  sanguine  sparso  reatus  ante  aufe- 
rendus  erat,  quam  alteri  vivo  imponeretur  poena.  Ita  sane  uterque 
hircus  deo,  ille  maclatione,  sparsionc,  incensione,  combustione,  hie 
omnia  fidelis  populi  peccata  portans,  vindicatus  est. 
*  S.  68G. 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  177 

on  the  ground  of  a  certain  equality  in  the  beginning.  The 
design  is  to  oppose  the  heathenish  and  peculiarly  Egyptian 
view,  which  represents  the  evil  principle  as  equally  powerful, 
with  equal  right  to  be  propitiated  in  like  manner  with  the 
good  being.  With  reference  to  this  notion,  two  like  things 
were  first  simply  placed  together,  in  order  that  the  difference 
between  both,  and  the  dissimilarity  of  that  which  is  to  be 
done  to  them,  may  be  presented  in  so  much  the  clearer  light, 

Bahr*  adduces  a  second  objection:  "Nowhere  in  the 
Mosaic  ritual  are  Jehovah  and  the  Devil  placed  together  in 
a  general  way,  much  less  then  in  such  a  manner,  that  lots 
are  cast  between  the  two,  in  order  to  determine  their  claims. 
This  would  have  had,  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  an  appear- 
ance of  equality  between  the  two  beings."  But  the  whole 
rite,  according  to  our  explanation,  rather  has  the  tendency  to 
destroy  the  inclination  existing  among  a  people  to  believe  in 
such  an  equality.  The  casting  of  lots,  instead  of  being  op- 
posed to  this  tendency,  is  rather  firmly  established  in  its  fa- 
vor. This  follows  directly,  if  it  is  only  settled,  that  accord- 
ing to  the  view  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  lot  is  under  the 
direction  of  Jehovah.  That  the  casting  of  lots  here  is  not  as 
a  mediation  between  the  two,  so  that  it  as  an  independent 
third  agency  decides  to  which  of  the  two  the  one  and  to 
which  the  other  shall  fall,  is  clear  from  the  fact,  that  both  goats 
are  represented  as  belonging  to  the  Lord,  before  the  lots  are 
cast,  by  the  phrase,  for  a  sin-offering,  in  verse  5,  and  by  the 
direction  in  verse  7  to  place  them  before  the  Lord.  The 
passage  therefore  by  no  means  exhibits  an  equality,  or  even 
the  appearance  of  it. 

Ewaldt  refers  to  a  third  objection:  "A  bad  demon, 
Azazel,  which  those  later  than  the  exile  have  first  made  out 
from  the  passage,  cannot  be  found  in  the  Pentateuch."  But 
an  explanation  which  is  demanded  with  absolute  necessity 

*  S.  687.  t  Gr.  Gram.  S.  243. 


178  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

by  the  laws  of  interpretation,  cannot  be  disproved  by  such 
objections.  They  in  any  case  have  force  only  when  the  thing 
cannot  be  decided  with  certainty  on  exegetical  grounds. 
And  why  is  it  said,  that  an  account  of  Satan  cannot  be  found 
in  the  Pentateuch  ?  Because  it  was  first  notorious  after  the 
exile?  But  even  E  wald  allows  that  the  book  of  Job  was 
composed  long  before  this  time,  and  should  it  be  asserted 
that  the  Satan  of  this  book  is  still  not  possessed  of  the  real 
attributes  of  Satan,  every  one  will  easily  perceive,  that  that 
which  seems  to  favor  this  belongs  only  to  the  poetic  drapery. 
It  will  vanish  as  soon  as  that  only  is  understood,  which  is  as 
clear  as  open  day,  namely,  that  the  prologue  bears,  in  the 
same  degree,  a  poetical  character,  that  the  speeches  do. 

The  hypothesis,  that  the  knowledge  of  Satan  does  not  ap- 
pear among  the  Israelites  until  after  the  exile,  has  been 
evidently  called  forth  by  a  motive  external  to  the  thing  itself, 
by  the  feeling  that  this  knowledge  is  of  heathen  origin,  and 
consequently  able  to  cast  a  shadow  upon  the  truth  of  the  ac- 
count. But  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive  how  it  can  be 
believed,  that  one,  even  with  this  object  in  view,  is  confined 
to  Persian  times.  Is  it  not  unaccountable,  that  it  is  not  per- 
ceived, that  just  as  much  is  accomplished  by  a  reference  to 
the  Egyptian  Typhon  as  to  the  Persian  Ahriman  ?  That 
this  view  is  so  firmly  adhered  to,  appears  to  be  explicable, 
only  on  the  ground  that  at  the  time  when  this  interest  first 
arose,  the  Zendavesta  was  just  in  fashion,  and  that  as  this 
lost  popularity,  the  hypothesis  already  strengthened  had  be- 
come historical  tradition,  which  was  received  without  ar- 
gument. 

From  a  theological  point  of  view,  which  according  to  our 
belief  is  the  true  and  only  scientific  one,  it  will,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  be  found  almost  impossible,  that  a  dogma, 
which  in  the  later  period  of  the  revelation  holds  so  important 
a  place,  should  not  also  at  least  be  referred  to  in  the  statement 
of  the  first  principles  of  that  revelation.     So  far,  therefore. 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  179 

from  expelling  it  by  force,  wliere  it  does  exist,  we  are  rather 
inclined  to  search  carefully  for  the  traces  of  its  existence. 
Besides,  our  passage  is  not  the  only  one  in  the  Pentateuch 
which  contains  intimations  of  the  doctrine  of  a  Satan.  That 
such  a  doctrine  is  also  prominent  in  Gen.  chap,  iii,  has  been 
shown  in  recent  times,  among  others,  by  S  c  h  o  1 1,*  Rosen- 
m  u  e  1 1  e  r,t  H  a  h  n,J  and  in  the  Christo]ogy.§ 

After  exhibiting  the  positive  reasons  for  the  explanation  of 
Azazel  by  Satan,  and  obviating  the  objections  to  it,  we  must 
now  also  subject  to  examination  those  among  the  various  ex- 
planations that  have  been  given,  which  are  now  current, 
whilst  in  reference  to  the  rest  we  refer  to  B  a  h  r. 

According  to  Ew  aid,  1 1  Azazel  designates ''the  unclean, 
the  unholy  (literally,  the  separate,  the  abhorred)  sin,"  But 
this  explanation  must,  on  philological  grounds,  be  considered 
as  questionable.^  It  however  appears  much  more  untenable, 
when  we  examine  the  context.  According  to  this,  what  can 
be  the  meaning  when  it  is  said  in  verse  10,  ''to  send  it  to 
Azazel,  bt?«ti>b ,  in  the  desert  1"  or  in  verse  26,  "he  who 
brings  the  goat  to  Azazel,  bTNTS^M"  In  what  sense  can  it 
be  said  that  the  goat  was  sent  to  sin  ? 

Moreover,  this  explanation  has  indeed  been  adopted  by  no 
one  except  its  originator,  who  has  perhaps  himself  long  ago 
abandoned  it.  There  is  another,  to  which  the  authority  of 
Tholuck**  among  others  has  given  more  currency,  and 
which  is  defended  by  B  a  h  r  :  ft  "  for  complete  removal."  As 

^  Theol.  Dogmat.  p.  128.  t  S.  109. 

t  Dogmat.  S.  345.  §  I.  1.  S.  27  fF. 

II  Gr.  Gram.  S.  243. 

H  The  signification  which  Ewald  gives  to  the  word  is  quite  unhke 
that  of  the  root  in  the  Arabic.  No  authority  is  found  for  the  change. 
It  stands  entirely  by  itself.  If  it  were  allowed  to  proceed  in  this 
way,  VrSTy  could  signify  something  very  different  still. 

**  The  A.  T.  in  the  N.  T.  (Beit,  zum  Br.  an  die  Hebr.),  S.  80. 

ft   8,668.. 


180  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

far  as  philology  is  concerned,"  says  Bahr ,  very  confidently, 
''there  is  at  any  rate  no  objection  to  it."  But  we  cannot 
assent  to  this.  The  explanation  is  rather  philologically  en- 
tirely untenable.* 

How  little  one  can  succeed  with  this  in  the  context  lies  on 
the  surface.  Even  in  verse  8  we  do  not  know  how  to  dis- 
pose of  it.  "  A  lot  for  Jehovah  and  a  lot  for  complete  remo- 
val :"  this  is  not  congruous.  The  lot  is  not  to  be  carried 
away.  Also  the  demand  for  similarity  in  the  use  of  the  prepo- 
sitions in  iiin'^b  and  bTJ^T^.b  ,  for  Jehovah  and  for  Azazel, 
will  then  be  grossly  violated.  We  see,  therefore,  that  we  are 
compelled,  at  the  outset,  to  modify  the  explanation  with 
T  h  o  1  u  c  k  ,  who  translates :  '  one  lot  for  the  animal  devoted. 
to  God ;  the  other  lot  for  the  animal  destined  for  removal.' 
But  the  interpretation,  thus  modified,  is  not  congruous,  again, 
in  verse  10:  'the  goat  on  which  the  lot  fell  for  Azazel.' 
There  we  cannot  translate  :  *  for  the  animal  destined  for  re- 
moval,' but,  ^  for  complete  removal ;'  and  just  so,  also,  in  the 
last  words  of  the  same  verse :  '  to  send  it,  VJ■.^i^'.b  ,  for  com- 
plete removal,  in  the  desert.'  And  if  the  ^  in  these  last  two 
cases  can  only  be  interpreted  by /br  (denoting  purpose),  it  is 
not  proper  to  translate  it  in  verse  8,  as  even  the  rrrtT^b 
demands  hy  for  (denoting  possession). — Also  in  verse  26,  this 
explanation  of  Azazel  is  not  suitable.  It  is  there  said : 
he  who  let  go  (or  sent  away)  the  goat,  bTJ^Ti'b  •  If  we  here 
translate  :  '  for  complete  removal,'  it  will  neither  be  said  for 
whom,  to  whom,  or  whither,  the  goat  is  sent  away.  That  the 
first  (the  individual  to  whom  it  is  sent)  is  designated  by  btJ^Ti^'b 
is  so  entirely  evident,  that  any  one  will  scarcely  be  able  to 
deny  it  without  doing  violence  to  his  conscience  as  an  inter- 
preter.t 

*  The  forms  like  VtST  y  are  only  adjccti.ra,  (compare  Ewald  Kl. 
Gram.  §  333,)  not  absiracta,  least  of  all  noviina  ar.tionis,  which  cannot 
come  from  words  originally  adjcctiva. 

t  The  h  in  VtSTyV  in  verse  8  and  10  can  the  less  be  explained  by  for 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  181 

If  it  is  now  established  that  Satan  is  to  be  understood  by 
the  term  Azazel,  then  an  allusion  to  Egypt,  in  the  whole  rite, 
cannot  be  mistaken. 

Among  the  great  errors  which  necessarily  arise  as  soon  as 
man  having  attained  to  reflection  is  abandoned  by  insight  in- 
to the  depth  of  human  sinfulness,  which  insight  alone  will  ex- 
plain the  riddle  of  human  life,  is  dualism,  an  error  propor- 
tionally harmless,  which  in  Egypt  also  took  very  deep  root. 
"  Every  bad  influence  or  power  of  nature,  and  generally  the 
bad  itself,  in  a  physical  or  ethical  respect,"  was  there  personi- 
fied under  the  name  of  Typhon.* 

The  doctrine  of  a  Typhon  among  the  Egyptians,  is  as  old  as 
it  is  firmly  established.  Representations  of  him  are  found  on 
numerous  monuments  as  old  as  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs.t 
Herodotus  speaks  of  Typhon  in  2.  144,56.  and  3.5. 
But  Plutarch  gives  the  most  accurate  and  particular  ac- 
counts with  indeed  many  incorrect  additions.| 

The  barren  regions  around  Egypt  generally  belonged  to 
Typhon.§  The  desert  was  especially  assigned  to  him  as  his 
residence,  whence  he  made  his  wasting  inroads  into  the  con- 
secrated land.  "  He  is,"  says  C  r  e  u  z  e  r,|l  "the  lover  of  the 
degenerate  Nephthys,  the  hostile  Lybian  desert,  and  of  the 
sea-shore, — there  is  the  kingdom  of  Typhon ;  on  the  con- 
trary, Egypt  the  blessed,  the  Nile-valley  glittering  with  fresh 


(denoting  purpose),  and  some  other  than  a  personal  being  be  un- 
derstood by  Azazel,  since  V  is  used  in  other  places  to  designate  the 
person  to  whom  a  lot  belongs.  Compare  Josh.  19:  1 — "And  the  sec- 
ond lot  came  forth  -^iya  \aV  to  Simeon."  Verse  10  :  "And  the  third 
lot  came  out  for  the  children  of  Zebulon,  ih^':2l  "'-^^j  ^^^  so  also 
in  other  verses  in  the  same  chapter. 

^  Creuzer,  Myth.  I.  S.  317.  t  Compare  Creuzer,  S.  322  ff. 

t  Compare    Jablonski,  III.  p.  59,  60. 

§  T(juv  ioxdrajv  dnr6fji,ivo?,  Plutarch  in  Jabl.  p.  83.         ||  S.  269. 
16 


182  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

crops,  is  the  land  of  Isis."  Herodotus*  ascribes  a  similar 
dwelling  to  Typhon.t 

In  a  strange  but  very  natural  alternation,  the  Egyptians 
sought  sometimes  to  propitiate  the  god  whom  they  hated,  but 
feared,  by  offerings,  and  indeed  by  those  which  consisted  of 
sacred  animals.  Sometimes,  again,  when  they  supposed  that 
the  power  of  the  good  gods  was  prevalent  and  sustained  them 
against  him,  they  allowed  themselves  in  every  species  of 
mockery  and  abuse.  "  The  obscured  and  broken  power  of 
Typhon,"  says  P  1  u  t  a  r  c  h  ,  |  "  even  now,  in  the  convulsions 
of  death,  they  seek  sometimes  to  propitiate  by  offerings,  and 
endeavor  to  persuade  him  to  favor  them  ;  but  at  other  times, 
on  certain  festival  occasions,  they  scoff  at  and  insult  him. 
Then  they  cast  mud  at  those  who  are  of  a  red  complexion, 
and  throw  down  an  ass  from  a  precipice,  as  the  Coptites  do, 
because  they  suppose  that  Typhon  was  of  the  color  of  the  fox 
and  the  ass."  The  most  important  passage  on  the  worship  of 
Typhon  is  found  on  p.  380  :  "  But  when  a  great  and  trouble- 
some heat  prevails,  which  in  excess  either  brings  along  with  it 
destructive  sickness  or  other  strange  or  extraordinary  misfor- 
tunes, the  priests  take  some  of  the  sacred  animals,  in  profound 
silence,  to  a  dark  place.  There  they  threaten  them  first  and 
terrify  them,  and  when  the  calamity  continues  they  offer  these 
animals  in  sacrifice  there. "§ 

Now  the  supposition  of  a  reference  to  these  Typhonia  sacra, 
W  i  t  s  i  u  s  considers  as  a  profanation.  |1  But  it  is  seen  at  once 
that  the  reference  contended  for  by  him  is  materially  different 


*  B.  3.  C.5. 

t  Compare  upon  this  passage,  Biihr  and  Creuzer  in  Comm.  Herod. 
p.  ^85.  X  De  Iside  et  Os.  p.  362. 

§  Compare  Comm.  upon  the  passage  in  Schmidt,  De  Sacerdotibus 
et  Sacrif.  Aeg.  p.  312  seq. 

II  Aeg.  L.  II.  c.  9.  p.  110  :  Num  permisit  suis  deus,  nedum  ut  jus- 
serit  genium  aliquem  averruncum  agnoscere,  quem  sacratis  placarent 
animantibus,  aut  quicquam  facere  abominationibus  Aegyptiorum 
simile. 


THE  AZAZEL  OF  LEV.  XVI.  183 

from  that  adopted  by  us.  The  latter  is  a  polemic  one.  In 
opposition  to  the  Egyptian  view  which  implied  the  necessity 
of  yielding  respect  even  to  bad  beings  generally,  if  men  would 
ensure  themselves  against  them,  it  was  intended  by  this  rite 
to  bring  Israel  to  the  deepest  consciousness,  that  all  trouble 
is  the  punishment  of  a  just  and  holy  God,  whom  they,  through 
their  sins,  have  offended,  that  they  must  reconcile  themselves 
only  with  him  ;  that  when  that  is  done  and  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  is  obtained,  the  bad  being  can  harm  them  no  farther. 

How  very  natural  and  how  entirely  in  accordance  with 
circumstances  such  a  reference  was,  is  evident  from  the 
facts  contained  in  other  passages  of  the  Pentateuch  which 
show  how  severe  a  contest  the  religious  principles  of  the 
Israelites  had  to  undergo  with  the  religious  notions  imbibed 
in  Egypt.  This  is  especially  exhibited  in  the  regulations  in 
Leviticus  xvii,  following  directly  upon  the  law  concerning 
the  atonement  day,  which  prove  that  the  Egyptian  idol  wor- 
ship yet  continued  to  be  practised  among  the  Israelites.  The 
same  thing  is  also  evident  from  the  occurrences  connected 
with  the  worship  of  the  golden  calf. 

The  assumption  of  a  reference  so  specially  polemic  might 
indeed  be  supposed  unnecessary,  since  in  a  religion,  which 
teaches  generally  the  existence  of  a  powerful  bad  being,  the 
error  here  combated,  the  belief  that  this  being  possesses  other 
than  derived  power,  will  naturally  arise  in  those  who  have 
not  found  the  right  solution  of  the  riddle  of  human  life  in  the 
deeper  knowledge  of  human  sinfulness. 

But  yet  the  whole  rite  has  too  direct  a  reference  to 
a  prescribed  practice  of  propitiating  the  bad  being,  and  im- 
plies that  formal  offerings  were  made  to  him — such  a  thing 
as  has  never  been  the  product  of  Israelitish  soil,  and 
could  scarcely  spring  up  there,  since  such  an  embodying  of 
error  contradicts  fundamental  principles  among  the  Israelites 
respecting  the  being  of  Jehovah,  which  indeed  allows  the 
existence  of  no  other  power  with  itself.  And  finally,  there 
exists  here  a  peculiar  trait,  which  in  our  opinion  makes  it 


184  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

certain  that  there  is  an  Egyptian  reference,  namely,  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  goat  was  sent  to  Azazel  into  the  desert. 
The  special  residence  of  Typhon  was  in  the  desert,  according 
to  the  Egyptian  doctrine,  which  is  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  natural  condition  of  the  country.  There,  accord- 
ingly, is  Azazel  placed  in  our  passage,  not  in  the  belief  that 
this  was  literally  true,  but  merely  symbolically. 


NUMBERS,  CHAP.  XIX. 

In  the  law  concerning  the  manner  of  purifying  those  who 
have  defiled  themselves  with  the  dead  in  Num.  xix,  it  is  said, 
verse  2  :  "  Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  bring  thee 
a  red  heifer  without  spot,  wherein  is  no  blemish  and  upon  which 
never  came  yoke." 

The  inquiry  whether  an  Egyptian  reference  is  prominent 
here,  must  depend  upon  the  significance  of  the  red  color 
demanded  by  the  law.  For,  that  this  is  not  without  signifi- 
cance we  consider  as  evident  without  argument.  "As  re- 
spects the  red  color,"  B  a  h  r*  correctly  says,  *'  this  is  nowhere 
else  demanded  for  an  animal  offering  or  in  general  even  any 
determinate  color,  so  much  the  less  then  can  it  be  doubted 
that  its  determination  in  this  case  is  intentional."  That  the 
color  here  must  have  a  significance,  has  at  all  times  been 
generally  acknowledged,  although  it  has  been  declared  diffi- 
cult and  in  some  respects  impossible  to  fully  determine  its 
import;  as,  for  example,  the  old  Rabbins  said,  that  not 
even  Solomon  knew  why  the  heifer  must  be  of  red  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  colors.! 

We   maintain   that   the   red   color    of   the  heifer   serves 

*  Symb.  2.  S.  498. 

\  Compare  also  Witsius,  Aeg.  115  :  At  quae  tandem  causa  dici 
potest  cur,  cum  in  caeteris  sacrificiis  omnibus  sine  colorum  discrim- 
ine  munda  animantia  rite  ofFerrentur,  solam  banc  lustralem  vaccam 
rubram  esse  necesse  fuerit ' 


THE  RED  COLOR  DESIGNATES  SIN.  185 

to  characterize  it  as  a  sin-offering.     We  adduce  the  following 
arguments  in  proof  of  this  assumption : 

1.  Isaiah  1:  18  shows  undeniably  that  the  red  color  in  the 
symbolic  language  of  the  Scriptures  denotes  sin:  "Though 
your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow,  though 
they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool."  The  con- 
text, verse  15,  ''  Your  hands  are  full  of  blood,"  verse  21, 
"  and  now  murderers,"  shows  at  once,  on  what  this  signifi- 
cance rests,  namely,  on  the  fact  that  in  the  shedding  of  inno- 
cent blood  their  sin  was  consummated. 

2.  According  to  this  interpretation  both  the  designated 
peculiarities  of  the  beast  for  sacrifice  grow  up  from  one  and 
the  same  root ;  as  a  sin-offering,  it  is  at  the  same  time  a 
female  and  red.  The  answer  to  the  question  why  a  heifer 
must  here  be  offered,  while  in  Lev.  4:  14  the  rule  is  laid  down 
that  each  sin-offering  for  the  whole  congregation  shall  be  a 
bullock,  lies  manifestly  in  the  phrase  Nin  Diirsh ,  it  is  a  sin- 
offering,  literally,  it  is  sin,  in  verse  9  and  verse  17.  Since  sin 
in  Hebrew  is  of  the  feminine  gender,  so  must  the  animal  also  be 
which  bears  its  image,  which  representing  it  shall  atone  for  it. 

3.  According  to  this  explanation,  the  red  color  of  the  heifer 
corresponds  accurately  with  the  scarlet,  with  which  and  cedar 
wood  and  hyssop  her  ashes  are  to  be  mingled.  That  also 
this  designates  sin  is  evident  from  Isa.  1:  18,  already  quoted, 
which  must  be  considered  as  an  approved  interpretation.* 
B  a  h  rt  exerts  himself  in  vain  to  show  that  in  Hebrew  the 
scarlet  is  the  symbol  of  life.  He  has  not  adduced  in  favor  of 
it,  the  semblance  of  a  proof.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  the  scarlet 
cannot,  on  account  of  its  union  with  cedar  and  hyssop  be  a 
symbol  of  sin.  This  connexion  which  occurs  once  besides, 
in  the  directions  for  purifying  the  leprous  person,  in  Lev.  14: 
4,  may  be  explained  as  follows  :  The  key  for  the  interpreta- 

*  The  nyVin  ''SttJ  in  Num.  xix.  is  in  Isaiah  separated  :  ca/r  is  in 
the  first  clause,  and  yV^n  in  the  second. 

t  Symbol.  1.  S.  334  if. 

16* 


186  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tion  of  cedar  and  hyssop  which  are  not  to  be  separated  from 
one  another,  as  B  a  h  r*  has  done,  but  must  be  considered  in 
connection,  as  they  never  appear  singly,  is  furnished  by  1 
Kings  5:  13,  (4:  33) :  From  the  cedar  upon  Lebanon  even  to 
the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall.  The  cedar  as  the 
loftiest  among  created  things — hence  the  cedars  in  Scripture 
are  the  cedars  of  God,  Ps.  80:  11,  (10), — symbolizes  his  ele- 
vation and  majesty ;  the  hyssop  on  the  contrary,  as  the  least, 
his  lowliness  and  condescension  which  David  celebrates  in 
Ps.  viii.t  In  the  cedar  and  the  hyssop,  both  the  divine  qual- 
ities are  represented  which  are  exercised  in  the  atonement 
and  forgiveness  of  sin;  his  majesty  which  gives  the  right 
and  power,  and  his  lowliness  and  compassionate  love  which 
ensures  the  will.  The  scarlet  represents  the  object  with  re- 
ference to  which  both  these  divine  qualities  are  exercised, 
the  occasion  for  which  they  are  displayed.^ 

4.  The  reference  of  the  red  color  to  sin  is  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  whole  rite  described  in  Num.  xix. 
Everything  in  it  points  to  the  fact  that  the  consciousness  of 
sin  unfolds  itself  in  death,  the  image  and  recompense  of  sin.§ 

*  II.  p.  503.  t  Compare  Ps.  18:  36. 

X  Grotius  was  substantially  in  the  right  way  of  explaining  this  rite, 
when  he  remarked  upon  Lev.  xiv :  Superbiam  cedrus  significat,  ver- 
miculus,  sive  coccinum  peccatum,  et  hyssopus  oppositam  virtutem, 
ra7iatvo(pQoavvTjv .  He  erred  only  in  making  the  sinner  instead  of 
God,  the  possessor  of  the  attributes  represented  by  cedar  and  hyssop. 
Bahr  says,  Th.  2.  S.  503  :  "  Purifying  power  is  ascribed  to  the  hyssop 
in  Ps.  51:  9.  But  why  .''  it  is  asked,  and  this  question  cannot  be  an- 
swered from  the  passage  itself,  but  from  the  'locus  classicus'  to  which 
David  the  same  as  expressly  refers.  If  it  is  correctly  understood, 
this  verse  of  the  Psalm  li.  also  appears  in  its  true  light.  It  is  the 
condescending  love  and  pity  of  God  in  which  David  takes  refuge, 
when  he  desires  to  be  purged  with  hyssop. 

§  This  appears  so  much  the  more  as  such,  when  we  take  into 
account  the  immediate  occasion  of  this  law.  "Occasionem  prae- 
bente,"  remarks  Deyling,  Obss.  Sac.  p.  73,  pollutorum  multitudine 


THE  RED  COLOR  DESIGNATES  SIN.  187 

The  whole  has  the  remembrance  of  sins,  avdf^vrjcrig  afiagiLMv, 
Heb.  10:  3,  for  its  object.  Since  the  sin-oflfering  here  repre- 
sents sin,  and  is  designed  to  awaken  the  consciousness  of  the 
odiousness  of  sin  for  itself,  it  cannot  be  slain  in  the  holy 
place  like  all  other  offerings,  but  this  must  rather  be  done  out  of 
the  camp.  While  in  other  cases  of  sin-offering  for  the  people, 
the  blood  was  sprinkled  seven  times  before  the  vail,*  it  was 
here  from  without  the  camp,  sprinkled  only  in  the  direction 
of  the  vail.t  The  whole  animal  was  burned,  and  not  even  a 
part  of  it  was  laid  on  the  altar  as  in  the  case  of  other  sin- 
ofTerings  for  the  congregation.  The  ceremony  notwithstand- 
ing its  importance  was  not  performed  by  the  high  priest  him- 
self, who  must  not  defile  himself,  but  by  the  oldest  of 
his  sons ;  and  even  he  performed  only  that  which  must 
necessarily  be  done  by  a  priest ;  all  the  rest  was  executed 
by  persons  who  were  not  priests.  All  the  persons  em- 
poyed  were  defiled,  even  the  water  of  purification  polluted 
the  clean  person.  The  clean  man  who  performed  the  puri- 
fication, was  in  consequence  of  doing  this,  impure  until 
evening,  and  must  then  wash  his  garments  and  bathe  himself; 
according  to  verse  21,  every  person  who  touched  the  water 
of  purification  was  unclean. 

These  are  the  reasons  which  declare  in  favor  of  our  inter- 
pretation. But  the  following  objection  is  raised  against  it. 
It  can  scarcely  be  conceived  how  that  by  which  sin  is  to  be 
removed  can  itself  be  characterized  as  sin.  "  Indeed  all  sin- 
offerings  are  themselves  considered  as  something  most  holy 
after  death,  so  that  they  can  be  eaten  only  by  holy  persons, 
by  priests."     Every  thought  of  sin  is  here  especially  excluded 

in  castris  Israclitarum  qui  ex  cadaveribus  seditiosorum  cum  Korah 
tumultum  contra  Mosem  excitaret,  contaminati  erant."  Yet,  in  this 
case,  the  general  import  of  death  is  only  shown  in  a  particularly  con- 
spicuous manner.  That  according  to  the  Israelitish  view  death  gen- 
erally  is  considered  as  the  image  and  recompense  of  sin,  is  shown  by 
Gen.  2:  17  and  3:  19. 
*Lev.  4:  17.  t  Bahr,  S.  501. 


188        EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

by  the  phrase  ''a  perfect  one,  in  which  is  no  blemish,  and  on 
which  yoke  never  came." 

The  most  simple  and  natural  answer  to  this  objection  is 
this  :  If  the  heifer  could  be  called  sin,  (the  word  nNtan  means 
literally  only  this,  not  sin-offering,)  its  color  could  as  well  at 
least,  symbolize  the  same  thing.  When  the  symbol  thus 
interpreted  is  explained  as  inappropriate,  the  name  is  also, 
and  the  way  is  closed  against  its  justification.  Farther,  the 
same  antithesis  which  is  considered  as  inadmissable  in  the 
qualifications  of  the  heifer,  and  which  it  is  attempted  to  ex- 
clude, are  seen  everywhere  throughout  the  whole  rite,  so 
that  nothing  is  gained,  if  it  is  forcibly  excluded  here.  As 
the  purifying  power  which  exists  in  the  ashes  of  the  offering 
corresponds  with  the  declaration,  "a  perfect  one,  and  in  which 
is  no  blemish,"  and  is  founded  on  this  quality ;  so  the  fact 
that  all  who  come  in  contact  with  the  animal  and  his  ashes 
are  defiled,  is  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  sin  express- 
ed by  the  gender  and  color. 

If  we  go  back  to  the  idea  of  substitution,  which  lies  at  the 
basis  of  all  sin-offerings,  the  twofold  character  which  is  car- 
ried through  the  whole  rite  is  explained.  The  substitution 
at  once  requires  two  things :  original  purity  and  imputed 
impurity,  or  natural  sinlessness  and  assumed  sinfulness.  The 
union  of  both  appears  most  conspicuous  in  the  antitype  of  all 
sin-offerings,  in  him  whom  when  he  knew  no  sin  God  made 
to  be  sin  for  us."* 

*  Compare  Deyling,  Obss.  Sac.  p.  78 :  "  Haec  enim  vacca,  quae 
n^iwri ,  ab  omni  macula  esse  debebat  immunis,  ob  suscepta  tamen  in- 
quinamenta  populi  immundissima  facta  est,  quid  aliud  significavit, 
quam  Christum.  Hunc  enim  /urj  yvovra  a^aqxiav  deus  vuIq  I'jfAOJv 
dfjLaQriav  eTtoiyasp,  'iva  TjueTg  ytvojfisd'a  Sixaiooi'vTj  ■d'sov  iv  arrw," 
2  Cor.  5:  21.  The  twofold  nature  which  belongs  to  sin-offerings  gene- 
rally, and  specially  to  this  one,  is  explained  with  substantial  correctness 
by  Spencer,  p.  503  :  "  E  legis  usa  factum  est,  ut  animalia  omnia  ad  pec- 
catum  et  immunditiem  tollendam  scposita,  puritatem  quidem  offeren- 
tibus,  maximam  autem  immunditiem  sibi  ipsis  conciliarent :    prout 


THE  RED  COLOR  DESIGNATES  SIN.  189 

It  might  be  further  objected,  that  it  is  inadmissible  to  un- 
derstand here,  that  in  the  gender  and  color  of  the  animal  sin 
is  signified,  while  in  other  sin-offerings,  the  quality  common 
to  them  with  this  is  not  symbolized  in  this  way.  But  this 
objection  is  entirely  without  force,  since  the  feminine  gender 
and  red  color  are  peculiar  to  this  case.  Buf  only  in  accord- 
ance with  our  view  can  an  appropriate  explanation  of  the 
peculiarity  of  this  case  be  given.  Since  sin  was  here  made 
so  specially  prominent  a  thing,  and  was  even  symbolized  by 
gender  and  color,  as  is  done  in  no  other  case,  it  is  clear  that 
this  uncleanness  was  the  greatest  of  all,  that  the  lawgiver 
aimed  at  awakening  a  just  abhorrence  of  death,  and  accord- 
ingly of  sin  whose  type  and  penalty  it  is.  In  it  is  also  shown, 
in  the  most  striking  manner,  that  we  are  dead  through  tres- 
passes and  sins,   vtxQol  jotg  nagumM^aai  xal  ralg  afjiaqxiaig* 

If  it  be  now  established,  that  the  red  heifer  was  a  type  of  sin, 
we  have  a  remarkable  parallel  from  Egyptian  antiquity.  "In 
the  symbolic  colors,  as  arranged  by  the  Egyptians,"  says 
Drumann,  in  the  passage  before  quoted,  "black  was  the 
color  of  death  and  mourning,  for  slaughter  and  its  author  the 
red  color  was  chosen."  Herodotusf  says,  the  animals 
designated  for  sacrifice  were  among  the  Egyptians  accurately 

aqua  ad  manus  a  sordibus  purgandas  usurpata  lavanti  quidem  mun- 
ditiem  afFert,  dum  interim  puritatis  propriae  jacturam  patitur.  Ille, 
cui  hircum  piacularem  dimittendi  provincia  demandata  est  et  sacerdos 
qui  juvencum  pro  expiatione  combussit,  immundi  facti  sunt,  nee  iis 
ad  sanctuarium  aditus  concessus,  donee  vestes  et  corpora  abluissent ; 
80  quod  populi  immunditiae  in  animalia  ilia,  prout  corporis  sordes  in 
aquam  purgatricem  transire  atque  adhaerere  crederentur."  PfeifFer 
expresses  himself  still  more  definitely,  Dubia  Vex.  p.  290 :  "  PoUuebat 
mundos,  quia  imputative  erat  piaculum  sive  catharma,  praefigurans 
Christum,  pro  nobis  factum  naraQav.  Gal.  3:  13.  2  Cor.  5:  21.  Mun- 
dabat  vero  ^avrio/uog  aquae,  ejus  cinere  et  quasi  pulverisato  sanguine 
mistae  pollutos,  designans  ^avrta/uov  sanguinis  Christi  nos  ab  omnibus 
peeeatis  mundantis  et  expiantis. 

""  Eph.  2:  1,  5.     Col.  2:  13.  +  B,  2.  c.  38. 


190  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

examined  beforehand,  and  if  only  one  black  hair  was  found 
on  the  bullock,  it  was  proved  unsuitable  for  offering.  What 
PI  u  tar  ch*  says  in  his  book  on  Isis  and  Osiris,  performs 
the  office  of  a  commentary  on  this  passage.  We  see  from 
it,  that  the  animals  offered  must  be  throughout  entirely 
red:  "The  Egyptians,  since  they  suppose  that  Typhon  is 
of  a  red  complexion,  devote  to  him  red  bullocks,  and  they 
institute  so  close  an  inspection  of  them,  that  they  consider 
the  animal  unfit  for  sacrifice  if  a  single  black  or  white  hair 
is  found  on  him."  Besides,  says  Plutarch,  the  Egyptians 
celebrated  certain  feast  days,  on  which  they,  in  order  to  re- 
vile and  disgrace  Typhon,  abused  men  who  had  red  hair. 
D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s,t  of  Sicily,  says,  in  ancient  times  the  Egyptians 
offered  men,  who  like  Typhon  had  red  hair,  at  the  tomb  of 
Osiris. 

Now  the  choice  of  red  color  to  designate  the  evil  and  the 
base  is  not  certainly  arbitrary.  It  depends  in  all  probability 
among  the  Egyptians,  as  among  the  Hebrews,  upon  the  fact 
that  red  is  the  color  of  blood.|  Thence  it  might  be  supposed 
that  both  of  these  nations  came  independently  of  one  another 
to  one  and  the  same  symbolic  designation.  With  reference  to 
this,  it  is  proper  to  remark  further,  that  these  two  are  the 
only  nations  among  whom  red  is  found  as  a  fixed  and  na- 
tionally recognized  designation  of  evil,  and  that  the  connec- 
tion of  the  color  with  the  thing  designated  is  a  looser  one, 

*  P.  363.  A.  t  1.  88. 

X  According  to  Bahr,  Symbol.  Th.  2.  S.  234,  Typhon  has  the  red 
color,  "  as  the  personified  burning  heat,  which  dries  up  the  fertilizing 
Nile,  and  scorches  everything."  But  no  proof  for  this  derivation  of 
the  red  color  is  adduced.  We  could  quote  in  our  favor  Goulianof, 
who,  in  the  Archeologie  Eg.,  Leipz.  1839.  t.  3.  p.  89  seq.,  has  a  separate 
section  entitled  :  Etude  des  allegories  de  la  couleur  rouge,  in  which 
it  is  attempted  to  show,  that  red  as  the  color  of  blood  is  the  color  of 
impiety.  Compare  the  section,  p.  422  seq. :  Etude  des  alleg.  attaches 
a  la  couleur  pourpre  ou  cccarlate.  But  we  do  not  consider  him  as 
good  authority. 


THE  EGYPTIAN  REFERENCE  A  PARTIAL  ONE.  19'1 

than,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  white  as  the  color  of  inno- 
cence, and  black  as  the  color  of  mourning,  then  also,  it  may 
be  added,  that  among  both  these  nations  this  symbolic  view 
obtains  influence  directly  upon  the  offering  of  sacrifices, 
among  the  Israelites  only  in  particular  cases,  but  among  the 
Egyptians  generally.  If  we  take  this  into  c%isideration,  a 
dependence  of  one  of  these  nations  upon  the  other  will  appear 
very  probable,  and  then  we  can  decide  for  ourselves  whether 
the  origin  of  the  symbolic  designation  was  not  among  the 
Egyptians. 

Finally,  it  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  remarks,  that  the 
Egyptian  reference  in  Num.  chap,  xix,  by  no  means  respects 
the  whole  rite,  but  is  a  very  partial  one ;  it  is  limited  to  the 
identity  of  the  symbolic  import  of  the  red  color,  to  which 
may  perhaps  also  be  added,  that  the  color  has  an  influence 
in  the  choice  of  the  victim.*  There  is  no  direct  authority, 
for  finding,  with  S  p  e  n  c  e  r,t  who  has  followed  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  D  u  V  o  i  s  i  n,  in  the  choice  of  the  heifer 
instead  of  the  bullock,  which  on  other  occasions  was  taken, 

*  Witsius,  Aeg.  p.  115,  seeks  to  destroy  the  connection  between  the 
red  bullock  which  was  sacrificed  by  the  Egyptians  and  the  red  heifer, 
by  the  following  remarks :  Aegyptii  rufos  boves  immolabant  non 
quod  pretiosiores  eos  aut  diis  suis  gratiores  esse  existimarent,  sed  ex 
odio  et  contemptu.  Dictabant  enim  d'vGt/Liov  ov  (pilov  tlvat  d'sdlq. 
(Compare  Schmidt,  De  Sacerdotibus  et  Sacrif.  Aeg.  Bahr,  Symbol. 
Th.  2.  S.  235.)  But  if  the  significance  of  the  red  color  of  the 
heifer  is  correctly  determined,  this  remark  serves  rather  to  bring  both 
nearer  each  other. 

t  This  author,  p.  486,  after  he  has  referred  to  passages  by  which  it 
is  proved  that  the  cow  is  considered  sacred  among  the  Egyptians, 
says  :  Cum  itaque  eo  dementiae  et  impietatis  prolapsi  essent  Aeg.,  ut 
vaccam  tanto  cultu  studioque  honorarent :  deus  vaccam  multa  cum 
cerimonia  mactari  voluit  et  lixivium  ex  iilius  ceneribus  ad  populi  im- 
munditias  expurgandas  confici ;  ut  Aeg.  vanitatem  sugillaret  et  per 
banc  disciplinam,  cum  Aegypti  more  sensuque  pugnantem,  Israelite 
ad  cultus  ilhus  vaccini  contemptum  atque  odium  sensim  perducerentur. 


192  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

a  reference,  and  indeed  a  hostile  one,  to  an  Egyptian  cus- 
tom,— he  supposes  the  designation  of  the  heifer  for  an  offer- 
ing of  purification  is  a  practical  derision  of  the  Egyptian  no- 
tion of  the  sacredness  of  the  cow, — since  the  choice  of  the 
heifer  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  reasons  already  given, 
without  such  afeference.  Yet  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  po- 
sition taken  by  us,  by  no  means  excludes  the  reference  claimed 
by  S  p  e  n  c  e  r,  but  on  the  other  hand,  both  may  very  easily  be 
reconciled.  If  the  heifer  was  chosen  instead  of  the  bullock 
commonly  offered,  in  order  to  designate  it  as  impersonated  sin, 
there  would  even  in  this  be  found  the  strongest  opposition  to 
the  Egyptian  notion  of  the  sacredness  of  the  cow. 


LAWS  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  FOOD, 

The  Egyptians  and  the  Israelites  stand  alone  among  the 
nations  of  antiquity,  in  reference  to  the  great  care  which  they 
bestowed  upon  the  selection  of  food.  Among  both,  regula- 
tions of  this  kind  had  extensive  influence.  Through  these 
laws,  some  of  the  most  important  means  of  subsistence  were 
either  withdrawn,  or  at  least  made  odious,  as,  for  example, 
fish,  which  could  not  be  eaten  by  the  priests,*  and  the  legu- 
minous fruits.t  How  much  the  regulations  which  had  refer- 
ence to  food  influenced  them  in  life,  is  best  shown  by  the 
passages  collected  by  S  p  e  n  c  e  r. J 

This  fact  indeed  leads  us  to  conjecture,  that  the  Israelitish 
laws  respecting  food,  were  not  without  an  allusion  to  Egyp- 
tian customs.  If  no  such  thing  is  supposed,  the  coincidence 
perceived  between  the  two  nations  appears  very  remarkable. 

*  See  Herod.  2.  37.     Plut.  De  Isid.  et  Os.  p.  363. 

t  Larcher  zu  Herod.  2.  S.  252  ff. 

t  Page  130.  See  also  the  wonderful  passage  of  Porphyry,  De  Ab- 
atinentia,  B.  4.  c.  7. 


CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS.  ]J^ 

That  the  admission  of  such  a  reference  detracts  from  the 
dignity  of  the  Israelitish  law,  no  one  should  affirm.  This 
depends  wholly  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  reference  is 
understood.  That  a  distinction  of  food  originated  very  an- 
ciently, is  indeed  certain  without  argument,  since  the  differ- 
ent nature  of  animals,  in  very  many  respects,  speaks  a  lan- 
guage of  signs,  clear  without  reasoning  to  the  allegorizing 
mind  of  antiquity.  Thus,  we  find,  even  in  the  time  of  the 
flood,*  the  distinction  made  between  the  clean  and  un- 
clean beasts  and  birds.  But  that  a  beginning  merely  was 
made  so  anciently,  these  same  passages  show,  since  there  is 
not  a  trace  of  a  distinction  between  the  clean  and  unclean 
wild  beasts  found  in  them.  Now  in  Egypt  from  these  first 
elements  a  complete  system  was  formed.  The  Mosaic  code 
of  laws  found  a  people  which  was  accustomed  to  a  distinction 
of  food  of  extensive  application.  In  these  circumstances  it 
was  natural, — which,  in  case  the  Israelites  yet  occupied  the 
position  of  the  patriarchs,  would  have  been  entirely  unna- 
tural,—that  the  laws  of  diet  had  reference,  not  merely  to  in- 
dividual things,  but  that  they  extended  into  the  whole  province 
concerned,  even  to  its  furthest  limits,  and  arranged  all  its  parts 
with  respect  to  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  Israelitish  religion. 
The  fear  of  too  great  minuteness  could  not  here  have  had  any 
place,  since  the  laws  were  made  for  a  people  accustomed  to 
law,  and  its  advantages  and  blessings  would  not  be  allowed 
to  remain  unenjoyed.  Besides,  if  the  ground  had  been  left 
imoccupied,  it  would  have  been  immediately  seized  upon,  or 
rather  retained  in  possession  by  the  opposer,  whom  it  was 
important  to  expel  from  the  borders  of  the  Israelitish  juris- 
diction in  which  he  had  already  so  strongly  intrenched  him- 
self. 

Not  the  existence  alone  of  certain  dietetic  rules  is  com- 
mon to  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites,  but  they  also  both  agree 

^  Gen.  7:  2,  3.  8:  20. 
17 


194  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

in  this,  that  these  regulations  have  in  them  a  religious-ethical 
significance.  In  respect  to  those  of  the  Israelites,  this  could 
be  denied,  and  a  mere  dietetic  object  asserted  only  in  a  time, 
which  through  its  peculiar  impiety  has  lost  the  key  to  those 
phenomena  which  take  root  on  religious  ground.  From  the 
reception  of  dietetic  reasons  merely,  the  designation  of  ani- 
mals not  to  be  eaten  as  unclean,  an  abomination,  a  terror,  is 
not  accounted  for,  neither  is  the  foundingof  the  prohibition, 
on  the  declaration  that  Israel  "  is  a  consecrated  people  to  the 
Lord  its  God ;"  nor  this  command  :  "  its  dead  body  you  shall 
not  touch."  This  permission  :  "  To  the  stranger  which  is  in 
thy  gates  mayest  thou  give  it,  that  he  may  eat  it,  or  thou 
mayest  sell  it  to  a  stranger,"  is  also  explainable  only  on  the^ 
supposition  that  the  uncleanness  was  founded  on  symbolic 
reasons,  which  applied  only  to  the  Israelites.  We  have  in 
Deut.  23 :  18  (19),  as  good  as  an  express  declaration  of  the 
reason  of  the  prohibition  of  certain  kinds  of  food  :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  bring  the  hire  of  a  harlot  and  the  price  of  a  dog, 
i.  e.  (as  appears  from  ver.  17  [18,]  )  of  licentious  men,  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord."  From  which  we  see  that  the  dog  and 
other  animals  placed  on  an  equality  with  it,  as  the  representa- 
tives of  moral  uncleanness,  were  unclean.  Indeed,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  general  character  of  the  law,  it  cannot  be  sup- 
posed to  have  a  dietetic  object,  Moses  would  fall  entirely  be- 
low his  station,  if  he  here  for  the  time  acted  as  a  mere  guar- 
dian of  health  by  appealing  to  the  fears  of  the  people.* 

That  also  among  the  Egyptians  the  prohibitions  of  food  rest 
on  religious-moral  grounds  cannot  be  doubted.  They  abstain 
from  that  food  which  stands  in  any  supposed  relation  to  Ty- 
phon,  the  evil  principle  ;  and  the  reason  of  the  hatred  against 
certain  animals  lies,  among  them,  above  all  in  this,  that  they 
are  considered  the  representatives  and  the  physical  manifesta- 

*  Besides,  even  Spencer  argued  against  the  dietetic  view  :  "  dcuiii 
animalia  nonnulla  inter  impura  imposuisse,  quae  veterum  gula  non  tan- 
tum  salubria  sed  mensarum  suarum  delitias  habuit,"  e.  g.  the  hare 


ANIMALS  OF  TYPHON.  195 

tioii  of  Typhon,  as  Typhoically  infected.  Thus  they  abstain, 
according  to  P 1  u  t  a  r  c  h,*  from  fish,  because  they  come  out 
of  the  sea,  which  belongs  to  the  dominion  of  Typhon.  The 
swine  was  hated  by  them,  on  account  of  its  filthy  habits,  as  the 
incarnation  of  the  unclean  spirit.  "In  general,"  says  Plu- 
tarch, "they  consider  all  hurtful  plants  and  animals  as 
well  as  all  unfortunate  events,  as  the  acts  of  Typhon."t  To 
the  religious  significance,  a  moral  was  joined.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  Typhon,  in  the  animal  kingdom,  were  consid- 
ered at  the  same  time  as  symbols  of  the  men  devoted  to 
him.  "The  guilty  person,"  remarks  Champollion,| 
"  appears  under  the  figure  of  huge  swine,  upon  which  is  writ- 
ten, in  great  letters,  '  gormandizing  and  gluttony,'  without 
doubt  the  capital  crime  of  the  culprit,  perhaps  of  a  glutton  of 
that  time." 

But  together  with  this  agreement  between  the  Egyptian  and 
the  Israelitish  regulations  in  respect  to  food,  there  is  a  very  im- 
portant difference,  which  is  adapted  to  meet  all  apprehensions 
which  might  arise  from  a  supposed  too  near  contact  of  the 
two,  and  which  fully  excludes  the  supposition  of  a  crude 
transferring  of  a  heathenish  institution.  Among  the  Egyp- 
tians, the  separation  between  the  rational  and  irrational  crea- 
tion was  removed,  and  accordingly  the  uncleanness  of  ani- 
mals was  to  them  something  indwelling  and  physical ;  a  swine 
and  a  man  given  to  excess,  were  entirely  in  a  like  manner  the 
creatures  of  Typhon.  The  eating  of  the  flesh  of  animals  be- 
longing to  Typhon,  introduced  with  it  a  Typhonic  element 
into  the  one  eating.  Entirely  otherwise  was  it,  according  to 
the  divine  law.  At  the  very  commencement  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, the  limit  between  the  rational  and  brute  creation  is 
strongly   drawn.      Man   only    has   the    image  of  God,   and 


-  De  Isid.  p.  363. 

i    Compare  upon  the  relation  in  which  unclean  animals  are  placed 
to  Typhon,  Jablonski   Panth.  Aeg.  3.  p.  67,  8. 
I  Briefe,  S.  153. 


196  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

therefore  he  alone  can  properly  be  the  subject  of  cleanness 
and  uncleanness ;  and  when  mention  is  there  made  of 
these  qualities  in  the  animal  kingdom,  this  can  be  only  as 
a  symbol  and  representative  of  that  which  belongs  to  the  rea- 
soning creation.  On  Jewish  ground  only,  such  laws  respect- 
ing food  could  find  place,  and  notwithstanding  their  formal 
abrogation,  they  will  for  substance  always  exist. 


THE  INSTITUTION  OF  THE  HOLY  WOMEN. 

An  Egyptian  reference  is  undeniable  in  the  Israelitish  in- 
stitution of  the  holy  women.  The  first  and  principal  passage 
upon  it  is  in  Ex.  38  :  8 — "  And  he  made  the  laver  of  brass, 
and  its  foot  of  brass,  of  the  mirrors  of  the  female  servants  who 
served  at  the  gate  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation." 
That  the  institution  did  not  probably  end  with  the  Mosaic  pe- 
riod, but  rather  continued  through  the  whole  period  of  the 
kings,  we  see  from  I  Sam.  2:  22,  where,  among  the  great 
crimes  of  the  sons  of  Eli,  it  is  mentioned  that  they  defiled  the 
women  Vi^hich  served  at  the  gate  of  the  tabernacle. 

An  inquiry  concerning  the  nature  of  this  institution  was 
instituted  in  the  Contributions,  and  we  will  insert  what  was 
there  said  here. 

The  service  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation, is  designated  as  the  employment  of  these  women. 
Niy  signifies  military  service.  Figuratively  it  stands,  there- 
fore, for  the  militia  .s«craof  the  priests  and  Levites,  Num.  4: 
23,  35,  43.  8 :  25.  Their  leader  and  standard-bearer  is 
the  God  of  Israel.  In  addition  to  the  sacred  host  composed 
of  men,  there  appears  in  our  passage  a  corresponding  one 
consisting  of  women;  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  spoken 
of,  shows  that  it  was  a  general,  important  and  formally  or- 
ganized institution.  The  expression  in  the  passages  referred 
to,  does  not  imply,  that  they  had  external  service  at  the  taber- 
nacle— only  by  an  inapposite  reference  to  the  German  use  of 
the  word  service  (Dienen),  has  this  idea  been  found  in  it — 


INSTITUTION  OF  THE  HOLY  WOMEN.  197 

and  it  must  be  altogether  doubtful  whether  they  were  so  em- 
ployed. Neither  the  law  nor  history  give  any  information  of 
the  service  of  the  women  at  the  tabernacle  in  this  sense. 

That  the  ancient  Jews  did  not  understand  that  any  such 
occupations  were  implied  in  our  passage,  that  it  on  the  con- 
trary has  reference  to  spiritual  service,  to  offices  which  have 
direct  reference  to  the  worship  of  God  which  the  women  were 
occupied  with  at  the  sanctuary,  is  shown  by  the  para- 
phrase of  the  Alexandrian  translators,  who  substitute  for  *  ser- 
vice,' '  fasting,'  ix  x&v  xatonjQMv  xav  vrjcrtsvcaawv,  at  ivri- 
ffisvaav,  as  well  as  by  that^of  Onkelos,  who,  in  remarkable 
agreement  with  these,  translates  the  same  word  by  '  to  pray.' 
Aben-Ezra  understands  it  in  the  same  way  :  "  They  came 
daily  to  the  tabernacle  to  pray  and  to  hear  the  words  of  the 
law."  But  of  special  importance  for  understanding  what  this 
service  was,  is  the  third  passage  upon  the  institution  of  the 
holy  women,  which  shows  that  it  continued  even  to  the  time 
of  Christ.  It  is  found  in  Luke  2 :  37,  where  it  is  said  of 
Anna  :  "  who  departed  not  from  the  temple,  but  served  God 
with  fastings  Sind  praters  night  and  day."  The  relation  of 
this  passage  to  Ex.  38 :  7,  is  the  more  distinct  if  we  compare 
it  with  the  translation  of  the  Seventy  and  of  Onkelos.  If  we 
take  these  into  the  account,  we  shall  also  find  a  reference  to 
the  Jewish  institution  in  1  Tim.  5  :  5 — "  Now  she  that  is  a 
widow  indeed,  and  desolate,  trusteth  in  God,  and  continueth 
in  supplications  and  prayers  night  and  day,"  a  reference 
which  implies  that  the  service  of  the  women  was  not  performed 
with  the  hands  but  with  the  heart. 

This  institution  had  a  strictly  ascetic  character.  This  is 
evident  from  the  fact — in  connexion  with  Ex.  25: 1,  where  Mo- 
ses is  required  to  take  from  the  Israelites  free-will  offerings 
for  the  construction  of  the  sanctuary  :  "  from  every  one  whose 
heart  moves  him  shall  ye  take  my  offering,"* — that  the  article 

*    Comp.  Ex.  38:  24seq.  and  Num.  chap.  vii. 
17* 


198  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

which  the  holy  women  gave  was  their  looking-glasses,  their 
means  of  pleasing  the  world.  This  giving  up  of  the  use  of 
the  mirror  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  leaving  of  the  hair  to 
grow  in  the  case  of  the  Nazarites,  by  which  they  gave  a 
practical  demonstration  that  they,  for  the  time  in  which  this 
was  done,  renounced  the  world,  in  which  the  cutting  of  the 
hair  belongs  to  the  proprieties  of  social  life,  so  that  they 
might  serve  God  only.  The  new  use  to  which  Moses  de- 
voted the  mirrors,  also  indicated  that  the  offering  of  them  had 
this  significance.  This  gives,  in  addition  to  the  negative,  the 
positive  reason.  Not  for  the  world,  but  for  God,  ought  we  to 
adorn  ourselves,  and  seek  to  please  him  alone.* 

That  women  of  rank  devoted  themselves  to  the  Lord  is  evi- ' 
dent  indeed  from  the  nature  of  the  case, — where  such  a  way 
is  once  opened,  it  will  be  trodden  by  more  in  proportion  of  the 
higher  than  of  the  lower  order  of  people — and  it  is  also 
especially  evident  from  the  mention  which  is  made  of  the  mir- 
ror. Metal  mirrors  were,  as  even  the  fact  that  they  were 
offered  shows,  an  article  of  luxury,  and  they  are  represented 
as  such  also  in  the  third  chapter  of  Isaiah. 

That  the  institution  has  an  Egyptian  reference,  is  very 
probable  without  argument,  from  the  circumstance  that  it 
was,  in  all  probability,  not  introduced  by  Moses  by  a  law, 
but  was  found  by  him  as  an  already-existing  institution.  It 
evidently  arose  of  itself,  from  the  Israelitish  manner  of  life; 
and  since  this  stood  under  manifest  Egyptian  influences,  we 
should  expect  to  find  an  analogous  Egyptian  institution,  after 
which  the  Israelitish  one  was,  in  form,  copied,  whilst  the 
spirit  of  both  institutions  must  necessarily  be  as  different  as 
the  service  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  from  the  natural  religion 
of  the  Egyptians. 

This  expectation  is  accordingly  entirely  realized.  Among 
classical  writers  Herodotus  first  mentions  the  holy  women 

"  1  Pet.  3:  3,  4. 


INSTITUTION  OF  THE  HOLY  WOMEN.  199 

among  the  Egyptians.  He*  says,  "concerning  the  two  oracles, 
namely,  among  the  Greeks  and  in  Lybia,  the  Egyptians  gave 
me  the  following  account :  The  priests  of  Jupiter  at  Thebes 
said  that  two  holy  women  (literally  priestesses)  were  carried 
away  from  Thebes  by  the  Phoenicians,  and  they  had  learned 
that  one  of  them  was  sold  in  Lybia  and  the  other  in  Greece. 
And  these  women  were  the  first  founders  of  the  oracles 
among  these  people."  Further,  it  is  said :  "  If  the  Phoeni- 
cians really  carried  away  the  holy  women,"  and :  "As  was 
natural,  she  who  ministered  at  Thebes  in  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  was  mindful  of  him  in  the  place  to  which  she  came."t 
Besides  Herodotus  also|  alludes  to  the  institution  of  the 
holy  women  in  Egypt  in  other  places.  "  In  the  temple  (of 
Belus  at  Babylon)  there  stands  a  great  couch  beautifully 
spread  and  near  it  is  placed  a  table  of  gold.  But  there  is  no 
image  there  and  no  mortal  passes  the  night  there,  except  some- 
times one  native-born  woman,  whoever,  as  the  Chaldeans  say, 
the  God  chooses  from  all  who  are  his  priests.  These  same 
Chaldeans  relate  also,  but  I  do  not  believe  them,  that  the  God 
comes  sometimes  into  the  temple  and  sleeps  upon  the  bed, 
just  as  the  Egyptians  relate  of  Thebes,  for  there  also  a  woman 
sleeps  in  the  temple  of  the  Theban  Jupiter.  Both  these 
women  they  say,  never  have  intercourse  with  man.  So  also 
at  Patarain  Lycia,  there  is  a  chief  priestess  of  the  God  when 
he  is  there,  for  there  is  not  always  an  oracle  at  this  place,  but 
when  he  is  there,  she  is  shut  up  at  night  with  him  in  the 
Temple." 

D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s§  of  Sicily  speaks  of  "  The  concubines  of  Ju- 
piter," that  is,  of  Anion.  S  t  r  a  b  o|l  says  :  "  But  to  Jupiter 
whom  they  most  honor,  a  very  beautiful  and  noble  young 
woman  is  devoted,  whom  they  call  the  Grecian  Pallas; 
but  this  one  has  intercourse  with  whatever  men  she  wishes 

*B.  2.  C.54.  t  B.  2.  c.  56. 

IB.  I.e.  181,  2.  §B.  1.  47. 

II  B.  17:  1171. 


'200  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

until  she  arrives  at  the  age  of  womanhood.  After  that  she 
IS  married.  But  before  her  marriage  there  is  a  lamentation 
made  for  her.  What  S  tr  abo  here  says  of  the  impurity  of 
the  young  woman  devoted  to  Amon  rests  without  doubt  upon 
the  misunderstanding  of  the  expression,  "  The  concubines 
of  Amon."  Herodotus  gives  us  a  contrary  account: 
"These  women  are  said  never  to  have  intercourse  with  a 
man,"  and  in  another  place,  he  says  that  among  the  Egyptians 
impurity  is  excluded  from  the  circuit  of  the  holy  places,  in 
which  these  women  had  their  abode.* 

The  monuments  confirm  the  accounts  of  classical  writers. 
The  data  which  they  furnish  are  found  collected  in  W  i  1  k  i  n- 
s  o  n,t  where  there  is  also  an  engraving|  of  the  holy  womea 
given,  and  in  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,§  according  to  whom  these  young 
women  bore  the  title  of  "bride  of  God."  See  also  M  i  n  u- 
tol  i'  s||  Travels  where  it  is  said  in  the  innermost  part  of  the 
temple  at  Carnac  :  "  Near  the  king  and  the  priests  maidens 
are  also  seen  represented." 

The  characteristic  peculiarities  in  which  the  Israelitish 
agrees  with  the  Egyptian  institution  of  the  holy  women  are  the 
following  :  1.  Among  the  Israelites  as  among  the  Egyptians, 
the  holy  women  with  all  the  respect  which  they  enjoy,  still 
are  not  priestesses ;  among  both  the  priesthood  belongs  only 
to  the  men.  What  Herodotus  mentions  in  B.  2.  c.  35  as  a 
distinguishing  peculiarity  of  the  Egyptians  :  "A  woman  never 
performs  the  office  of  a  priest  for  a  god  or  goddess,"^  applies 
also  accurately  mutatis  mutandis,  to  the  Israelites. 

2.  That  the  holy  women   among  the  Israelites  had  no  ex- 

*  The  declaration  of  Strabo  concerning  the  impurity  of  the  holy 
women  is  confuted  also  by  Rosellini  1. 1.  p.  216,  and  Wilkinson,  Vol.  I. 
p.  250. 

t  Vol.  1.  p.  258  seq.  |  p.  260. 

§1.1.  p.  216  II  S.  181. 

H'/^ctTtti  yvvi]  fxh  ovdefiia  ovie  egafvog  &sou  ovie  &)]Xs7]i:,  «V- 
dgtg  de  naviwv  tf  xixl  naaiwv. 


INSTITUTION  OF  THE  HOLY  WOMEN.  201 

ternal  service  in  the  tabernacle  of  testimony,  that  their  service 
was  rather  a  spiritual  one,  we  have  already  seen.  Just  so  is  it 
among  the  Egyptians.  That  their  holy  women  were  not  as 
B  a  h  r*  supposes,  servants  of  the  priests,  (hierodulen)  is  suffi- 
ciently proved  by  the  quotations  from  Herodotus.t  He 
says,  indeed,  that  they  served  the  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Thebes.J 
But  that  their  service,  just  as  in  Ex.  xxxviii,  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  spiritual  service,  the  account  shows,  since  these 
Egyptian  women  are  supposed  to  have  founded  the  oracles  in 
Greece  and  Lybia.  If  they  served  Jupiter  in  these  countries 
by  foretelling  future  events,  they  were  also  employed  in  a 
similar  manner  in  their  father-land. 

3.  That  also  among  the  Israelites,  noble  women  especially 
were  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  temple  was  previously 
shown.  Just  so  was  it  among  the  Egyptians.  According 
to  St  r  ab  o,§  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  noble  maidens 
were  devoted  to  Jupiter  or  Amon.  Wilkinson  says, 
whilst  speaking  of  the  tombs  of  the  holy  women  described  by 
D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s,  which  are  now  seen  at  Thebes  in  a  valley  3000 
feet  behind  the  ruins  of  Medeenet  Haboo  :  "  The  sculptures 
show  that  they  were  women  of  the  highest  rank,  since  all  the 
occupants  of  these  tombs  were  either  the  wives  or  daughters 
of  kings."  Rosellin  i||says  :  "  We  shall  find  in  the  sequel, 
also  other  examples  of  royal  young  maidens  devoted  to  Amon, 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  was  a  custom  in  the 
earliest  period  of  the  Pharaohs  to  place  by  this  rite  some  ot 
the  king's  daughters  in  a  nearer  relation  to  religion." 

4.  That  the  holy  women  among  the  Israelites  were  always 
unmarried,  either  young  women  or  widows,  has  been  shown 
in  the  Contributions.^     Just  so  also  is  it  with  the  holy  women 

*  Zu  Herod.  B.  2.  c.  54.  t  B.  2.  c.  54-56. 

\"SlantQ  Tjv  oinog,  aficpmoXsvovaav  sv  Ori^rjtri  Igov  /tiog,  IV^« 
anUito,  iv&avxa  fivtjfirjv  avtov  l^ftr. 

§  EvsideaTotTTj  yal  yivovg  XttfingoTocTov  nagd^ivog. 
II  P.  217.  M  Th.  III.  S.  142-3. 


202  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

among  the  Egyptians.  According  to  Herodotus*  the 
brides  of  Amon  were  excluded  from  all  intercourse  with  men.t 
According  to  Strabo  the  most  beautiful  and  noble  young 
women  were  devoted  to  Jupiter,  and  when  they  wished  to 
marry,  there  was  previously  a  great  lamentation  made  for 
them  as  for  one  dead.f 


THE  NAZARITES. 

From  the  institution  of  the  holy  women  we  turn  to  that  of 
the  Nazarites.  We  must  naturally  expect  an  Egyptian  refer- 
ence more  or  less  distinct  here  also.  For  the  institution  of 
the  Nazarites  originated,  not  by  the  appointment  of  the  law- 
giver, but  it  is  implied,  in  Num.  chap,  vi,  as  an  existing  in- 
stitution, and  is  there  only  sanctioned. 

But  if  we  examine  the  matter  more  closely,  we  perceive 
indications  of  Egyptian  influence,  yet  it  is  less  conspicuous 
here,  than  in  the  institution  of  the  holy  women.  For  the  in- 
stitution in  general,  Egypt  furnishes  no  parallel.  An  Egyp- 
tian reference  can  be  pointed  out  for  only  a  single  feature  of 
the  system,  the  leaving  of  the  hair  to  grow,  and  that  is  one 
which  has  no  connection  with  religion,  but  with  the  customs 
of  the  people.  Finally,  the  single  allusion  to  Egypt,  although 
truly  worthy  of  notice,  is  still  not  so  characteristic  that  we 
could  with  full  certainty  assert  its  existence. 

'B.  1.  c.  182. 

f  Kal  yccQ  dr]  i^l&i,  xoifioiiai  iv  tw  toC  Jt,6g  tov  Os/Sauog 
yvvrj  '  u^cpoTiQtti  ds  aliai  XiyovxuL  ulvSqwv  ovdafiwv  eg  o^u)driv 
(fOirSv. 

t  TIqIv  Se  §o&7Jvaij  Trtv&og  avrfjg  aytrat  utra  xov  rijg  naXXay.iiag 
naiQov.  This  lamentation  on  leaving  this  community  agrees  remark- 
ably with  the  mourning  of  the  daughter  of  Jephtha  when  she  entered 
it.  In  both  cases  it  depends  uj)on  the  view  of  the  exclusiveness  of 
the  relation, 


THE  NAZARITES.  203 

It  is  necessary  for  our  purpose,  that  we  first  determine  the 
significance  of  leaving  the  hair  unshorn  by  the  Nazarite. 
We  begin  with  an  examination  of  the  view  of  B  a  h  r.*  The 
obligation  of  the  Nazarite,  he  asserts,  to  let  the  hair  grow 
freely,  has  its  basis  in  the  idea  of  holiness.  Among  the  ori- 
entals, and  especially  among  the  Hebrews,  the  hair  of  the 
head  is  the  same  as  the  products  of  the  earth,  the  grass  of 
the  field,  and  the  growth  of  the  trees.  Especially  in  accord- 
ance with  this  is  the  naming  of  the  vine  in  the  year  of  jubi- 
lee, *i'^n  (nazyr),  in  Lev,  25:  5,  since  they  prune  it  not  this 
year,  but  allow  its  leaves  and  branches  to  grow  freely.  From 
this  it  is  evident,  that  the  growth  of  the  hair,  according  to 
oriental  view,  signifies  grass,  shoots,  blossoms  of  men.  But 
in  so  far  as  the  Hebrew  looked  upon  men  as  distinctively 
moral  beings,  the  human  blossoms  and  shoots  represent  ho- 
liness. 

This  view  is  by  no  means  new ;  but  it  is  discarded  by  all 
judicious  investigators,  as  mere  mystical  refinement.  The 
following  reasons  are  especially  decisive  against  it.f 

1.  The  proofs  which  are  brought  for  the  position,  that  ac- 
cording to  oriental  and  especially  Israelitish  views,  the  growth 
of  the  hair  is  a  symbol  for  the  thriving  condition  of  man,  are 
very  weak.  The  one  derived  from  Lev.  chap.  xxv.  is  the  only 
one  which  is  worth  the  trouble  of  a  closer  examination.  It  is 
there  said  of  the  sabbatical  year  in  verse  5 :  "  The  grain 
which  groweth  of  its  own  accord  thou  shalt  not  reap,  and  the 
grapes  of  thy  undressed  vines  (nazarites)  thou  shalt  not 
gather,  a  year  of  rest  is  it  for  the  land,"  after  that  it  had 
been  said  before  in  verse  4,  "Thy  field  thou  shalt  not  sow, 
and  thy  vineyard  thou  shalt  not  prune."     Then  in  verse  11, 

*  Symbol.  Th.  2.  S.  432. 

t  Compare,  e.  g.  Carpzov.  Appar.  ad  Antiq.  p.  153  :  Ut  eos  taceam, 
qui  mysticam  commenti  rationcm,  nutritionem  capillamenti  symbo- 
lum  instituunt  nutritionis  interioris,  quo  Abarbanel  in  h.  1.  et  Grego- 
rius,  L.  II.  Moral,  c.  26,  tendit. 


204  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

concerning  the  year  of  jubilee  :  "  You  shall  not  sow,  neither 
reap  that  which  groweth  of  itself,  neither  gather  its  naza- 
rites."*  It  is  not  entirely  certain,  that  there  is  a  special 
reference  in  these  passages  to  the  leaving  of  the  hair  to  grow 
in  the  case  of  the  Nazarites. 

The  general  idea  of  separation,  which  lies  at  the  basis  of 
the  whole  institution  of  the  Nazarites,  might  here  also  apply. 
As  the  Nazarites  were  separated  from  the  world,  so  was  the 
vine  from  the  use  of  man  in  the  sabbatical  year  and  the  year 
of  jubilee.  But  if  we  suppose  a  reference  to  the  unshorn 
hair  of  the  Nazarites,  which  the  '  not  gathering'  and  '  not 
pruning'  in  verses  4  and  5  favor,  yet  at  any  rate  the  point  of 
comparison  is  only  with  respect  to  the  separation.  That  the-^ 
unpruned  vine  is  not  better,  but  worse,  is  decidedly  against 
the  opinion  of  Bah r.  It  shoots  out  in  wood,  and  an  injury 
is  done  to  its  true  growth. t  This  is  decisive  against  the 
opinion  that  the  growth  of  the  hair  among  the  Israelites  is  a 
symbol  of  prosperity,  namely,  that  it  belongs  to  propriety 
among  the  Israelites  to  go  with  shorn  hair,  whereas  accord- 
ing to  this  view,  long  hair  must  have  been  considered  an 
ornament  as  among  most  nations  of  antiquity.^ 

2.  The  fundamental  idea  in  the  institution  of  the  Nazarite  is 
that  of  separation  from  the  world,  with  its  enjoyments,  which 
oppose  holiness,  and  its  corrupting  influences.  This  nega- 
tive point  of  separation,  involves  the  positive  one  of  sanctifi- 

*  Besides  the  establishment  of  the  law  in  chap,  vi,  these  passages 
also,  in  which  before  the  giving  of  the  law  concerning  the  Nazarites 
allusion  is  made  to  them,  show  that  the  lawgiver  found  it  as  an  exist- 
ing institution, 

t  John  15:  2. 

I  Carpzov.  p.  153:  Communis  inter  prlscos  Judaeos  mos  ita  tulit 
ut  tonsis  incederent  capillis,  secus  ac  Gracci  veteres  Romani,  Galli 
aut  Germani,  qui  comati  erant.  Compare,  in  reference  to  the  con- 
sideration in  which  long  hair  was  held  among  these  nations,  the 
collections  by  Lampe  in  the  Miscell.  Groning.  t.  4.  p.  209  seq. 


THE  NAZARITE.  205 

cation,  the  separate  person  is  at  the  same  time  holy  to  the 
Lord — since  the  world  stands  in  opposition  to  the  Lord, 
every  renunciation  of  it  is  at  the  same  time  a  union  with  the 
Lord,  and  the  separation  is  here  made  directly  for  the  sake 
of  the  Lord.  That  the  idea  of  separation  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion, the  name,  by  which  the  significance  of  the  institution 
must  be  expressed,  indicates.*  -i^n  (nazyr)  means  the  se- 
parate one.  Equally  in  favor  of  this  idea  is  Num.  6:2: 
"  The  vow  of  a  Nazarite  is  for  a  separating  to  the  Lord." 
This  fundamental  idea  of  the  institution  m.ust  be  traceable  in 
all  of  its  separate  points.  That  especially  the  command  to 
leave  the  hair  unshorn  rests  upon  it,  we  have  even  the  ex- 
press explanation  of  the  lawgiver.  It  is  said  in  verse  5 :  "All 
the  days  of  the  vow  of  his  separation,  no  razor  shall  come 
upon  his  head :  until  the  days  be  fulfilled  in  the  which  he 
separateth  himself  unto  the  Lord  he  shall  be  holy ;  he  shall 
let  the  hair  of  his  head  grow."  The  separation  is  here  given 
as  a  reason  for  allowing  the  hair  to  grow.  Even  the  hair  of 
the  Nazarite  is  in  verses  9  and  18  named  T^T2 ,  separation, 
but  with  the  accompanying  idea  of  designation.  Now  ac- 
cording to  the  view  of  B  a  h  r,  the  idea  of  separation  is  en- 
tirely lost.  The  negative  idea  which,  as  has  been  alleged, 
must  form  the  foundation  upon  which  the  positive  is  supported, 
falls  entirely  away.  Thereby  then  this  element  of  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Nazarite  will  be  entirely  separated  from  both 
the  others  in  which  the  negative  idea,  as  can  be  demonstrated 
and  is  allowed,  prevails. 

At  the  same  time  with  the  view  of  B  a  h  r,  that  which  W  i- 
ner,   (after  the  authority  of  L  amp  e,)  has  proposed,  falls 

*  Carpzov.  p.  151  :  Haud  dubia  ->.-T3  est  a  -iT2  ,  separavit,  abstraxit, 
continuit  se  a  re  aliqua  et  propterea  segregatum,  separatum  notat. — 
Satis  omnino  praesidio  huic  interpretationi  est  ex  sede  hujus  instituti 
primaria,  Num.  6:  2,  ubi  votam  Nasaraei  dicitur  ad  separandum  se 
dovnino. 

18 


206  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

to  the  ground  :*  **  The  head  of  the  Nazarite  with  its  natu- 
ral ornament  was  regarded  as  specially  devoted,  and  the 
touching  of  it  with  a  razor  is  consequently  a  profanation  of 
that  which  belongs  to  Jehovah."  The  negative  idea,  accord- 
ing to  this  view,  is  also  robbed  of  its  just  right.  Long  hair 
cannot,  according  to  the  notions  of  the  Israelites,  be  consid- 
ered as  **  a  natural  ornament." 

The  proof  for  the  interpretation  of  the  rite  claimed  by  us, 
is  given  in  the  confutation  of  other  views.  We  believe  that 
long  hair  is  a  symbol  of  separation  from  the  world.  It  be- 
longs, as  we  have  already  seen,  to  the  Israelitish  ideas  of 
propriety  to  go  with  shorn  head.t  and  he  who  left  his  hair 
to  grow,  furnished  by  this  act  a  practical  confession  that  he 
renounced  the  world,  and  abandoned  all  intercourse  with 
men.  That  also,  on  other  occasions,  those  who  -considered 
themselves  as  separated  from  men  suffered  their  hair  to  grow, 
is  shown  by  Deut.  21:  12,  where,  concerning  the  captive 
which  an  Israelite  determined  to  marry,  it  is  said :  **And 
thou  shalt  bring  her  into  thine  house,  and  she  shall  shear  her 
head  and  pare  her  nails."  By  shearing  her  head  and  paring 
her  nails  she  enters  again  into  human  society. | 

If  the  significance  of  leaving  the  hair  unshorn  is  deter- 
mined, the  Egyptian  reference  in  this  rite  lies  on  the  surface. 
Indeed  it  must  appear  remarkable  that  the  Israelites  agree 
with  the  Egyptians  almost  against  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the 


*  In  dem  Rrallexicon,  II.  1.  S.  165. 

f  Geier,  De  Hebr.  Luctu,  p.  203,  correctly  sa.ys:  Israelitarum 
populum  comatum  haudqiuiqnam  fuisse  vel  inde  colligi  potest,  quod 
comam  alere  proprium  esset  Nazaraeornm,  adeo  ut  hi  ipsi  ab  aliis  po- 
pularibiis  facile  internoscerentur  ex  coma. 

i  This  passage  shows  very  distinctly  with  what  justice  Bahr  asserts, 
S.437:  It  was  the  israelitish  custom  in  mourning,  not  to  allow  the 
iiair  to  be  long,  but  to  cut  it.  The  cutting  of  it  must  indeed  be  differ- 
eat  from  shaving,  calvitium  facere.  Onl}'  the  latter  was  the  appro- 
priate condition  in  mourning.  Comp.  Geier,  De  Hebr.  Luctu.  c.8. 
§  6  and  7. 


THE  NAZARITE.  207 

world  in  considering  short  hair  as  belonging  to  social  propri- 
ety.* Indeed,  this  agreement  is  explained  most  easily  by 
the  long-continued  residence  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt.  But 
it  is  a  point  of  more  importance,  that  among  the  Egyptians 
not  less  than  among  the  Israelites,  the  temporary  withdraw- 
ing from  the  world,  the  going  out  of  society,  was  symbolized 
by  leaving  the  hair  to  grow.  We  see  this  from  Gen.  41:  14, 
according  to  which  the  captives  in  Egypt  left  their  hair  un- 
shorn, and  also  from  Herodotus  2.  36:  "  The  priests  o ^ 
the  gods  wear,  in  other  lands,  long  hair  ;  but  in  Egypt  they 
cut  it  off;  among  other  nations  it  is  the  custom  to  shear  the 
beard  when  a  relative  dies.  But  when  any  of  their  friends  die, 
the  Egyptians  leave  the  hair  which  was  before  cut,  to  grow? 
both  on  the  head  and  chin." 

Whilst  the  proof  that  the  leaving  of  the  hair  to  grow,  among 
theNazarites,  was  a  sign  of  separation,  shows  on  the  one 
hand  that  the  rite  stood  in  an  external  relation  to  Egyptian 
customs,  it  serves,  on  the  other  hand,  for  confuting  the  hy- 
pothesis of  Spencer,  concerning  the  heathenish  origin  of 
the  whole  rite.  T  he  cases  in  which  the  heathen  devoted  the 
hair  of  the  head  and  the  beard  to  their  divinities,  appears  from 
this  point  of  view  as  entirely  different. 

Our  inquiries  concerning  the  Egyptian  references  in  the 
religious  institutions  of  the  books  of  Moses,  are  finished.  It 
only  remains  now,  in  a  last  chapter,  to  collect  together  those 
things  for  which,  until  now,  no  suitable  place  has  been  found. 

*  Compare  remarks  upon  Gen.  41:  14,  where  we  have  shown  that 
cutting  the  hair  was  considered  as  a  distinguisixing  peculiarity  of  the 
Egyptians. 


208  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS    PASSAGES. 

The  Genealogical  Table  in  Gen.  x. 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that  the  genealogical  table  in 
Gen.  X.  cannot  be  from  Moses;  since  so  extended  a  know- 
ledge of  nations  lies  far  beyond  the  geographical  horizon  of 
the  Mosaic  age.  This  hypothesis  must  now  be  considered  as 
exploded.  The  new  discoveries  and  investigations  in  Egypt 
have  shown  that  they  maintained  even  from  the  most  ancient 
times,  a  vigorous  commerce  with  other  nations,  and  some- 
times with  very  distant  nations.  The  proofs  are  found  in 
Creuzer,*  Heeren,t  in  my  Contributions,!  ^"^  ^^ 
W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n  .  §  This  last  author,  among  other  things,  re- 
marks, that  the  strongest  proof  for  the  commerce  of  the 
Egyptians  with  distant  nations  of  Asia,  is  furnished  by  the 
materials  out  of  which  many  of  the  articles  in  use  in  civil  and 
domestic  life,  found  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes  which  belong  to 
the  18th  or  19th  dynasty,  are  made  in  Egypt;  for  example, 
the  vessels  of  wood,  which  are  commonly  made  of  foreign 
wood,  and  not  seldom  of  the  mahogany  of  India. 

But  not  merely  in  general  do  the  investigations  in  Egyp- 
tian antiquities  favor  the  belief  that  Moses  was  the  author  of 
the  account  in  this  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis.  On  the  Egyp- 
tian monuments,  those  especially  which  represent  the  con- 
quests of  the  ancient  Pharaohs  over  foreign  nations,  (con- 
quests which  certainly  were  oftener  achieved  in  imagination 
than  in  reality,  as  indeed  the  almost  regular  recurrence  of 


*  Symb.  Th   I.  S.  310  ff.  t  S.  275,  321  ff.,  376  ft'.  571  ft". 

X  Th.  2,  S.  451  ff.  §  Vol.  I.  p.  1G4. 


THE  GENEALOGICAL  TABLE,  GEN.  X.  209 

these  representations  under  nearly  all  the  ancient  Pharaohs 
shows,  so  that  nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the 
present  popular  way  of  relying  upon  them,  without  inquiry,  as 
sources  of  historical  truth,)  not  a  few  names  have  been  found 
which  correspond  with  those  contained  in  the  chapter  before 
us.  We  will  here  speak  only  of  those  where  the  agreement 
is  perfectly  certain.  It  must  be  allowed  that  far  more  still 
could  be  effected  if  our  knowledge  of  hieroglyphics  were  not 
so  very  imperfect.* 

Among  the  sons  of  Japheth,  in  verse  2,  Meshech  and  Ti- 
ras  are  mentioned  in  close  connection.  Among  the  Asiatic 
nations  which  are  represented  on  the  monuments  as  engaged 
in  war  with  the  Egyptians,  the  Toersha  also  appear,  according 
to  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n  .  t  They  are  shown,  indeed,  among  the 
nations  who  are  said  to  have  been  conquered  by  the  third 
Remeses.  Their  identity  with  Tiras  is  the  less  doubtful, 
since  another  nation,  the  Mashoash,  is  named  along  with 
them.  These  last  Wilkinson|  designates  as  "another 
Asiatic  nation  who  resemble  the  former  in  their  general  fea- 
tures and  the  shape  of  their  beards."  The  agreement  be- 
tween Meshech  and  Tiras  on  the  one  side,  and  Mashoash  and 
Toersha  on  the  other,  is  the  less  exposed  to  suspicion  since 
Wilkinson  did  not  think  to  place  both  in  connection,  as 
indeed  in  general,  the  present  attempt  at  comparing  the  names 
of  the  people  represented  on  the  monuments  with  those  found 
in  Gen.  x.,  is  the  tirst. 

Among  the  sons  of  Japheth,  in  the  same  verse,  Javan,  the 
lonians  or  Greeks,  is  mentioned.  According  to  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,<5 
the  Uoinim,  the  lonians  are  found  among  others,  in  a  sym- 
bolic painting,  representing  king  Menephthah  T.  the  12th 
king  of  the  18th  Dynasty  as  in  the  sight  of  Amon-re  he  slays 
one  individual  of  each  of  the  conquered   nations.     Thesejj 

-   Wilkinson,  Vol.  I.  377.  t  Wilkinson,  Vol.  I.  378. 

I  Wilk.,  Vol  I.  p.  379.  §   Vol.  III.  1.  p.  425 

II  Vol.  III.  1.  p.  426. 

18* 


210  EGVPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

same  people  were  also  mentioned  on  the  monuments  which 
belong  to  Thothmes  V.* 

Among  the  sons  of  Gomer,  the  son  of  Japhet,  consequently 
as  a  Japhetic  nation,  Riphat  is  mentioned  in  verse  3,  prob- 
ably identical  with  the  Pouont  or  Fount  who  are  represented 
on  the  monuments  as  engaged  in  war  with  the  Egyptians,  as 
early  as  the  time  of  Amun-m-gori  II,  which  the  more  recent 
chronologers  place  at  about  the  year  1680  B.  C.t 

Among  the  sons  of  Ham  in  verse  5,  Cush  is  first  mention- 
ed. The  Cush  according  to  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,i:  are  represented 
among  the  African  people  who  are  conquered  by  the  mon- 
archs  of  the  eighteenth  or  nineteenth  dynasty.  "  These," 
(the  Cush,)  he  remarks,  "  were  long  at  war  whh  the  Egyp-. 
tians ;  and  a  part  of  their  country  which  was  reduced  at  a 
very  remote  period  by  the  arms  of  the  Pharaohs,  was  obliged 
to  pay  an  annual  tribute  to  the  conquerors."^  According  to 
R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  ijl  the  victory  of  king  Horus  over  the  same  people 
is  represented  on  a  monument  at  Selsilis.  According  to  the 
same  author,^  they  appear  in  the  painting  already  referred  to, 
among  the  nations  conquered  by  Menephthah  I.  Eleven 
separate  Cushite  tribes  are  there  mentioned  in  agreement 
with  verse  7,  according  to  which  Cush  is  not  the  name  of  a  sep- 
arate tribe  but  of  several  tribes  belonging  to  one  general  family. 

As  the  second  son  of  Ham,  the  second  Hamitish  head 
of  a  family,  Mizraim  is  mentioned.  This  name  was,  as 
the  dual  form  signifies,  originally  the  name  of  the  land.  The 
division  of  the  land  into  the  upper  and  lower  regions  to 
which  it  refers,  appears  on  the  monuments  even  in  the  most 
ancient  times.  In  proof  of  this  see  Wil  ki  nson**  and 
C  h  a  m  p  o  11  i  o  n'  s  Letters,tt  where  an  inscription  is  quoted  : 

"  P.  210.  \  See  Wilk.  1.  374. 

I  Vol.1  p  387. 

§  See  also  Chanipollion  Bik  fe  S.  105. 

II  III.  1.  p.  277  seq.  M  p.  420. 
**  Vol.  II.  p.  73.  ttS.  140. 


GENEALOGICAL  TABLE,  GENESIS  X.  211 

*'  I  give  thee  the  upper  and  the  lower  Egypt  in  order  that 
you  may  rule  over  them  as  king." 

According  to  verse  13,  Mizraim  was  the  progenitor  among 
other  nations,  of  the  Lehabim  and  Naphtuhim.  It  serves 
for  a  confirmation  of  the  statement  that  the  Lybians  (the 
Lehabini)  are  an  offshoot  from  the  Egyptians,  that  they  even 
to  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  were  considered  a  part  of  the 
Egyptians.  Champollion*  affirms  that  he  found  Ni- 
phaiat  (=Naphtuchim)  on  the  monuments  as  a  name  of 
Lybian  nations. 

The  Canaanites  and  Amorites  (called  Asmaori)  are  rep- 
resented on  the  Egyptian  monuments  with  Lemanon  (the 
people  of  Lebanon)  and  Ascalon.t  The  land  Canana  is 
specifically  named  among  the  inscriptions  upon  a  representa- 
tion of  the  triumph  of  Menephtha  I.,  together  with  the  region 
of  Nahareina  or  Mesopotamia  and  Singara  or  Sinear.|  In 
reference  to  a  representation  of  a  campaign  ofOsirei,  the  father 
of  Remeses  the  Great,  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n§  says  :  "  The  country 
of  Lemanon  is  shown  by  the  artist  to  have  been  mountainous, 
inaccessible  to  chariots,  and  abounding  in  lofty  trees,  which  the 
affrighted  mountaineers  are  engaged  in  felling  in  order  to  im- 
pede the  advance  of  the  invading  army.  The  Egyptian  mon- 
arch, having  taken  by  assault  the  fortified  towns  on  the  frontier, 
advances  with  the  light  infantry  in  pursuit  of  the  fugitives  who 
had  escaped  and  taken  refuge  in  the  woods,  and  sending  a  her- 
ald to  offer  terms  on  condition  of  their  surrender,  the  chiefs  are 
induced  to  trust  to  his  clemency  and  return  to  their  allegiance, 
as  are  those  of  Canana,  whose  strong-holds  yield  in  like  man- 
ner to  the  arms  of  the  conqueror."  It  is  readily  seen  from 
these  representations  with  what  justice  an  argument  against 
the  Pentateuch  has  been  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  Ca- 
nana which  its  author  exhibits. 

*  S.  124.  t  Wilk.  Vol.  I.  385. 

+  See  Ros,  111.  1.  p.  437,  also  upon  Canana,  p.  341. 
§  Vol.  I.  p.  387. 


212  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

'*  The  sons  ofShem,"  it  is  said  in  verse  22,  "are  Elam 
and  Asslmr  and  Arphaxad  and  Lud  and  Aram." 

It  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  Asshur  appears  on 
the  monuments  under  the  name  Shari.  That  the  Shari,  who 
especially  under  the  reign  of  Osirei  and  his  son  Remeses  the 
Great,  are  represented  as  engaged  in  war  with  the  Egyptians, 
are  the  Assyrians,  is  indicated  not  only  by  the  name  but  by 
the  similarity  of  dress  between  them  and  the  captives  of 
Tirhaka.* 

The  Ludim  act  a  conspicuous  part  on  the  Egyptian  mon- 
uments. In  a  representation  of  a  triumph  of  Menephthah  I. 
five  foreign  nations  are  found,  the  Romenen,  the  Scios,  the 
people  Ots  from  the  land  of  Omar,  the  Tohen  and  the  Sceto. 
All  of  these  with  the  exception  of  Ots  are  represented  in  the 
inscriptions  as  belonging  to  the  land  of  Ludim.  And  of  the 
whole  expedition  it  is  repeatedly  said,  that  it  was  directed 
against  the  people  of  the  land  of  Ludim,  which  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  book  of  Genesis,  in  which  likewise,  Lud  is  not 
represented  as  a  single  tribe  but  as  an  entire  nation.  Since 
in  these  same  inscriptions  the  land  of  Canana  is  also  named 
and  the  region  of  Nahareina  and  Singara,  just  as  in  Genesis 
Lud  is  closely  connected  with  Aram,  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  if  argues 
that  the  land  Ludim  lay  in  the  neighborhood  of  Canaan  and 
Mesopotamia,  and  he  asserts  that  it  must  be  sought  in  the 
western  part  of  Asia. 

Abraham  and  Sarah  in  Egypt ^  Gen.  xii. 

In  Gen.  12:  14,  15  it  is  said  :  **And  it  came  to  pass,  that 
when  Abraham  came  into  Egypt,  the  Egyptians  beheld  the 
woman  that  she  was  very  fair.  The  princes  of  Pharaoh  also 
saw  her  and  commended  her  before  Pharaoh,  and  the  woman 
was  taken  into  Pharaoh's  house." 

"  Wilk.  I.  p.  375-G.     Compare  also  Champollion,  S.  105. 
nil.  l.p.  437-8. 


GENESIS  XII.  213 

Sarah  must  therefore  have  been  unveiled.  The  monuments 
show  that  according  to  Egyptian  customs  she  could  only  so 
appear  in  public.  "  We  find  from  the  monuments,"  says 
T  a  y  1  o  r,*  "  that  the  Egyptian  women  in  the  reign  of  the  Pha- 
raohs, exposed  their  faces  and  were  permitted  to  enjoy  as 
much  liberty  as  the  ladies  of  modern  Europe.  But  this  cus- 
tom was  changed  after  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  the 
Persians." 

The  recognition  which  Sarah's  beauty  finds  is  more  easily 
explained,  if  we  take  into  the  account  that  the  Egyptian 
women,  although  not  so  dark  as  the  Nubians  and  Ethiopians, 
were  yet  of  a  browner  tinge  than  the  Asiatics.  On  the  mon- 
uments the  women  of  high  rank,  in  compliment  to  them  were 
commonly  represented  with  fairer  complexions  than  their  at- 
tendants.t 

That  Pharaoh  is  immediately  thereupon  ready  to  take 
Sarah  into  his  harem  appears  not  to  be  consistent  with  He- 
rodotus B.  2,  c.  92,  according  to  which  each  Egyptian  had 
only  one  wife.|  But  that  Herodotus  speaks  only  of  the 
common  practice  among  them  and  that  polygamy  was  there 
allowed  by  law,  is  shown  by  what  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s§  says ;  "Among 
the  Egyptians  the  priests  marry  only  one  woman,  but  the  rest 
of  the  men,  each  one  as  many  as  he  chooses."  That  polygamy 
was  infrequent  among  the  Egyptians  is  evident  from  numer- 
ous representations  of  domestic  life  on  the  monuments. |j  But 
with  their  wives  the  noble  Egyptians  had  also  other  inmates 
of  the  harem  which  were  sometimes  merely  servants  and 
sometimes  also  concubines ;  ''most  of  them  appear  to  have 
been  foreigners,  either  taken  in  war  or  brought  to  Egypt  to 
be  sold  as  slaves"^  Of  this  class  are  the  women  at  Medee- 
net  Haboo,  attending  upon  Remeses,  and  not  the  wives  of  the 

*P.4.  tibid.  p.  4. 

tThis  is  clearly  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  and  Bahr  is  en- 
tirely wrong  in  making  it  mean  the  opposite. 

§1.80.  II  Wilk.  Vol.  II.  p.  62.  IT  Ibid.  64. 


214  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

monarch.  The  concubines  were  members  of  the  family  and 
were  in  rank  next  to  the  wives  and  children  of  their  lord. 
Without  doubt  Sarah  was  intended  for  such  a  station.  Among 
the  gifts  which  Abraham  received  from  Pharaoh,  male  and 
female  slaves  are  mentioned,  in  chap.  12:  16.  "  Domestic 
slavery,"  says  T  ay  I  or,*  "seems  to  have  been  established 
in  Egypt  from  the  earliest  ages,  and  we  find  from  the  mon- 
uments that  the  mistress  of  a  mansion  was  very  rigid  in  en- 
forcing her  authority  over  the  female  domestics.  We  see 
these  unfortunate  beings  trembling  and  cringing  before  their 
superiors,  beaten  with  rods  by  the  overseers,  and  sometimes 
threatened  with  a  formidable  whip  wielded  by  the  lady  of  the 
mansion  herself  Hagar  was  one  of  the  female  slaves  ob- 
tained by  Abraham  at  this  time."  See  upon  slavery  among 
the  Egyptians,  Wilkinson:!"  The  Ethiopians  were  obliged 
to  supply  the  Egyptians  with  slaves,  which  the  Egyptians 
sometimes  exacted  even  from  the  conquered  countries  of 
Asia." 

Genesis  13:   10. 

In  Gen.  13:  10,  the  author  says  the  plain  of  the  Jordan  was 
everywhere  well  watered,  "  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord  (Para- 
dise), like  the  land  of  Egypt."  Less  wonderful  is  it  here  that 
the  author  understands  the  natural  condition  of  Egypt  than 
that  just  this  same  land  presents  itself  to  him  directly  as  a 
means  of  comparison. 


Exodus  20 :  25. 
In  Ex.  20:  25  it  is  said  :  "And  if  thou  wilt  make  me  an 
altar  of  stone,  thou  shalt  not  build  it  of  hewn  stone;    for  if 
thou  lift  up  thy  tool  upon  it  thou  hast  polluted  it."    The  prepa- 
ration of  hewn  stone  is  represented  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes — 

*p.  7.  1  Vol.  I.p  388. 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF.  '215 

some  workmen  stand  there  smoothing  the  surfaces  of  a  stone 
with  chisels  of  different  forms;  others  are  examining  to  see 
whether  it  is  perfectly  square.  The  great  skill  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, in  the  preparation  of  hewn  stone,  is  one  of  the  princi- 
pal causes  of  the  durability  of  the  Egyptian  monuments.* 


T lie  Festival  of  the  Golden  Calf,  etc.  Exod.  xxxii.  and  Lev. 
17:  7. 

A  succession  of  allusions  to  Egypt  are  found  in  the  32d 
chapter  of  Exodus.  That  the  representation  of  Jehovah  un- 
der the  image  of  the  golden  calf  is  only  explainable  on  the 
supposition  of  Egyptian  influence,  and  that  it  stands  in  con- 
nection with  the  worship  of  Apis,  has  been  fully  discussed  in 
the  Contributions.!  In  the  same  work,  it  was  also  shown 
that  striking  analogy  is  found  in  the  descriptions  of  the  feasts 
of  the  gods  among  the  Egyptians,  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  festival  of  the  golden  calf  was  celebrated  by  the  Israelites, 
as  exhibited  in  the  following  passages  :  verse  6 — '*  And  the 
people  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink  and  rose  up  to  play  J'"' 
Verse  17:  "  And  when  Joshua  heard  the  noise  of  the  people 
as  they  shouted,  he  said  unto  Moses,  There  is  a  noise  of  war 
in  the  camp."  Verse  18,  where  Moses  says  :  "  The  noise  of 
song  I  hear."  And  in  verse  19  :  "  And  he  saw  the  calf  and 
the  dancing."  The  most  ancient  popular  rites  of  the  Egyptians 
were,  according  to  Creuzer,j:  of  the  nature  of  orgies,  and 
the  fundamental  character  of  their  religion  was  Bacchanalian. 
Sensual  songs  were  sung,  with  the  accompaniment  of  noisy 
instruments.  Of  the  yearly  journey  to  Bubastis,  H  e  r  o  d  o  - 
tus§  says:  "Throughout  the  whole  journey,  some  of  the 
women  strike  the  cymbal,  whilst  men  play  the  flute,  and  the 
rest  of  the  women  and  men  sing  and  clap  with  their  hands; 


^  Rosellini  II.  2.  p.  159.  t  Th.  2.  S.  155  ff. 

X  Symbol.  I.  S.  448,  9.  §  B.  2.  c.  60. 


216  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

and  when  they,  in  their  journey,  come  near  a  town,  they 
bring  the  boat  near  the  shore  and  conduct  as  follows :  some 
of  the  women  do  as  I  have  already  described,  some  jeer  at  the 
women  of  the  town,  with  loud  voices,  and  some  dance,"  while 
others  commit  other  unseemly  acts.  Especially  is  it  said 
concerning  the  feast  of  Apis,*  "  But  when  Cambyses  came  to 
Memphis,  Apis  (whom  the  Greeks  call  Epaphos)  was  shown 
to  the  Egyptians,  and  as  he  appeared,  the  Egyptians  forthwith 
put  on  their  most  costly  garments  and  exulted. "t 

Just  as  here,  in  a  manner  throughout  inimitable  by  one  of 
later  times,  the  circumstances,  tendencies  and  feelings  of  the 
people  who  had  grown  up  under  Egyptian  influences,  are  ex- 
hibited with  incontrovertible  truth.  So  are  they,  also,  in  the 
passage  Lev. 17:7,  already  explained  at  large  in  a  former  work.t 
It  is  there  said,  in  reference  to  the  rebellious  Israelites  :  "  They 
shall  no  longer  offer  their  sacrifices  to  he-goats  ((-'^,''rt:;) ,  af- 
ter which  they  have  lusted."  The  opposition  which  exists 
between  a  he-goat  and  a  god,  was  removed  in  the  Egyptian 
religion  and  in  it  only.  "  The  he-goat,  and  also  Pan,  were, 
in  the  language  of  Egypt,  named  Mendes,"  says  Herodo- 
t  u  s,§  and  almost  all  the  Greeks  follow  him.  This  identity 
of  names  between  the  god  and  the  he-goat  is  explained  by  the 
pantheistic  element  in  the  Egyptian  conception  of  the  world. 
The  he-goat  was  not  barely  a  symbol  of  Mendes,  for  whom 
the  Greeks,  looking  away  from  the  other  great  differences,  be- 
cause of  the  form  of  the  he-goat  and  his  wantonness,  substituted 
Pan,  but  the  physical  presentation,  the  incarnation  of  this 
god,  and  was  therefore  considered  holy  and  as  worthy  of  di- 
vine honor.  The  service  of  the  he-gont,  as  a  deity,  was  very 
anciently  performed  in  Egypt,  and  he  was  the  participant  of 

*  B.  3.  c.  27. 

t  See  also  upon  tlie  s;icied  dance  among  the  Egyptians,  Wilk.  II. 
!>.  340. 

;   In  den  Beitiligen,  Th   2.  S.  lie  ff.  §   B.  2.  c.  4G. 


THE    GOLDEN    CALF.  217 

very  high  honor  among  them,*  so  that  we  must  necessarily 
expect  the  idolatrous  inclination  of  the  Israelites  awakened 
after  a  short  slumber,  to  be  also  directed  specially  to  this 
deity. 

We  turn  back  to  Exodus  xxxii.  Aaron  demands,  ac- 
cording to  verse  2,  of  the  children  of  Israel,  the  golden  rings 
which  are  in  the  ears  of  their  wives,  their  sons,  and  their 
daughters,  in  order  to  fashion  from  them  the  calf.  '*  The 
golden  ornaments  found  in  Egypt,"  says  Wilkinson,! 
consist  of  rings,  bracelets,  armlets,  necklaces,  ear-rings  and 
numerous  trinkets  belonging  to  the  toilet ;  many  of  these  are 
of  the  times  of  Osirtasen  I.  and  Thothmes  III.,  contempora- 
ries of  Joseph  and  Moses."  The  same  author|  shows  that 
ear-rings  were  commonly  worn  in  Egypt.  Rings  of  gold 
were  so  common  in  Egypt,  according  to  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,§  that 
they  took,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  place  of  coin,  and  many 
times  were  used  in  trade. 

According  to  verse  20,  Moses  took  the  calf  that  they  made 
and  burned  it  and  beat  it  (namely,  the  elements  of  the  calf, 
externally  gold  and  internally  wood,  which  had  escaped  the 
fire)  until  it  was  fine  as  powder.  In  Deut.  9:21,  Moses 
says  of  the  same  transaction  :  "  And  burned  it  with  fire,  and 
beat  it,  grinding  it  thoroughly,  until  it  was  as  fine  as  dust," 
Wilkinsonjl  says,  certain  persons  were  employed  in  the 
towns  of  Egypt,  to  pound  various  substances,  in  large  stone 
mortars,  with  heavy  metal  pestles.  When  the  substance  was 
well  pounded,  it  was  taken  out  and  passed  through  a  sieve, 
and  the  larger  particles  were  again  returned  to  the  mortar, 
until  the  whole  was  sufficiently  fine. 

In  verse  32,  Moses  asks  of  God :  "  And  now  if  thou  wilt, 
forgive  their  sin  ;   and  if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy 


*  Compare  Creuzer,  Th.  III.  S.  325. 

t  Wilk.,  Vol.  111.  p.  225.  t  Vol.  III.  p.  371—1. 

§  Vol.  II.  p.  280.  II  Vol.  III.  p.  181  and  Drawing. 

19 


218  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

book  which  thou  hast  written."  These  words  imply  the  cus- 
tomary employment  of  lists  and  rolls,  which  have  existed  in 
scarcely  any  other  land  so  generally  as  they  did  in  Egypt.  The 
monuments  often  exhibit  this  frequency.  Thus  there  is  rep- 
resented in  a  tomb  at  Gurnah  a  levying  of  Egyptian  soldiers. 
The  men,  conducted  by  their  commander,  go  before  a  scribe 
in  order  to  be  enrolled.* 


Prohibition  of  Marriage  between  near  Relatives,  Lev.  xviii. 

The  law  concerning  unlawful  intercourse,  in  Lev.  xviii,  in 
which  marriages  'between  near  relatives  occupies  the  first 
place,  is  in  verse  3  accompanied  by  the  words:  "  After  the 
doings  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  wherein  ye  dwelt,  shall  ye  not 
do."  Truly,  among  no  people  of  antiquity  was  the  moral 
feeling,  with  reference  to  marriage  among  relatives,  so  blunt- 
ed, as  among  the  Egyptians.  The  marriage  with  the  sister, 
so  strongly  forbidden  by  Moses,  was  considered  among  them 
as  unconditionally  allowable.  Diodorusf  says:  "It  is, 
contrary  to  the  common  custom,  lawful  among  the  Egyptians 
to  marry  a  sister,  since  such  a  union,  in  the  case  of  Isis,  was 
so  fortunate  in  its  consequences."  Pausanias|  says  of 
Philadelphus,  who  married  his  sister  by  birth :  '*  He  in  this 
did  that  which  was  by  no  means  lawful  among  the  Macedo- 
nians, but  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, over  whom  he  ruled."  Philo^  relates  of  the  Egyp- 
tian lawgiver,  that  he  gave  permission  to  all  to  marry  their  sis- 
ters, those  who  are  sisters  by  birth,  not  less  than  step-sisters, 
those  of  like  age  and  older,  not  less  than  the  younger.  "  By 
the  sculptures  in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,"  remarks  W  i  I- 
kinson,i|  "it  is  fully  authenticated,  that  this  law  was  in 
force  in  the  earliest  times." 

*  Rosellini,  II.  3  p.  218.     Compare  also  Herod.  B.  2.  c.  177. 

♦  B.  I.  c.  27.  tAtt.  1.7. 

§  De  Special  Legg.  p.  7dU.  ||  Vol.  II.  p.  63. 


LEViTicxis  18:  23,  etc.  219 


Defilement  with  Animals.  Lev.  18:  23.  Ex.  22:  18,  etc. 

The  prohibition  of  defilement  with  animals  is  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch so  often  repeated  and  so  rigorously  enforced,  (see 
Lev.  18:  23 :  Neither  shalt  thou  lie  with  any  beast  to  defile 
thyself  therewith,  neither  shall  any  woman  stand  before  a 
beast  lo  lie  down  thereto;  it  is  confusion,  b^I?)),*  that  we 
are  involuntarily  driven  to  the  supposition,  that  the  author 
has  a  very  special  reason  for  enjoining  the  prohibition  of  this 
so  unnatural  and  infrequent  a  crime,  and  that  he  takes  into 
account  an  immorality  which  ruled  among  those  by  whom  the 
Israelites  had  been  previously  surrounded,  which  was  intro- 
duced among  them  through  a  pseudo-religious  motive,  and 
had  acquired  an  influence  which  it  could  never  have  exerted 
without  that  sanction.  We  should  the  more  expect  to  find 
such  a  vile  practice  among  the  Egyptians,  the  further  er- 
roneous views  of  the  position  of  animals  in  the  whole  creation 
and  the  changing  of  the  proper  relation  of  animals  to  human 
beings,  was  carried.  That  this  enormity  really  existed  among 
the  Egyptians,  Herodotust  shows :  "  In  this  same  pro- 
vince (the  Mendesian)  the  following  prodigy  happened  in  my 
time  :  eysvsro  S"  iv  tw  vo(j,(a  tovto)  in  e^sv  rovto  to  iSQug'  yv- 
vaixl  TQoiyog  ifilaytro  avaq^uvdov.  jovto  eg  inlds^iv  avd^Q007i(av 
a7rtx£To."|     That  the  occurrence  which  H e rod o tu s  here 

*  See  also  Ex.  Qri:  18.     Lev.  20:  15.     Deut.  27:  21.  t  2.  46. 

I  Bahr  says  upon  this  passage  :  Mendetis  in  urbe  hircos  mulieribus 
se  miscere  Pindarus  quoque  cecinerat  (v.  Strabo,  17.  p.  1154),  ex  quo 
alii  repetierunt  laudati  a  Sclmeidero  ad  Pindari  fragm.  p.  122.  ed. 
Heyn.  t.  3.  et  Bocharto,  Hieroz.  2,  53.  Idem  facinus  de  Thuiitis  alii 
retulerunt,  v.  Clem.  Al.  p.  27.  Ac  turpissimi  hujus  amoris  causam  a 
religione  repetendam  esse,  qua  ductae  mulieres  Pani  s.  hirco,  ejus 
symbolo,  se  permiserint,  in  dubium  vocari  nequit.  The  passage  of 
Pindar  quoted  reads : 

MivdfjTa  itaQo.  nQtjfivov  d^aXdaaag^  I'oxarov 

NhIov  xi^ag,  aiyt^drai  od'i  ZQctyoi  yvvai^l  /liayoptai. 


220  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

mentions  was  not  a  single  one,  is  evident  from  the  declara- 
tions of  other  writers.* 

The  reference  of  the  Mosaic  law  on  this  subject  to  the  ir- 
regularities connected  with  the  worship  of  the  goat  among 
the  Egyptians,  appears  the  more  certain,  since  this  worship 
of  the  goat  among  the  Israelites,  according  to  the  passage 
in  Lev.  17:  7,  already  discussed,  was  during  the  passage 
through  the  desert  yet  very  prevalent. 

We  are  still  more  confirmed  in  our  belief  of  an  Egyptian 
reference  in  this  prohibition  of  defilement  with  animals,  from 
its  being  comprised  in  the  number  of  those  which  in  Lev. 
18:  3  are  introduced  by  the  words:  *'  After  the  doings  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  wherein  ye  dwelt,  shall  ye  not  do." 

Leviticus  24:  10 — 12. 

The  account  of  "  the  son  of  the  Israel itish  woman  whose 
father  was  an  Egyptian,"  in  Lev.  24:  10 — 12,  transfers  us, 
and  in  a  manner  peculiar  and  inimitable  by  a  later  writer, 
into  the  very  heart  of  things  as  they  must  have  existed  at  the 
time  of  the  departure  of  the  people  from  Egypt.  If  any  nar- 
rative carries  the  proof  of  its  authenticity  along  with  it,  this 
does.  The  name  of  the  mother  and  her  father  are  given,  and 
the  name  of  the  tribe  of  the  latter  is  also  stated.  That  the 
father  is  an  Egyptian  and  the  mother  an  Israelite,  is  entirely 
in  accordance  with  the  common  relation  of  the  Egyptians 
to  the  Israelites,  while  the  opposite  case,  an  Israelitish  fa- 
ther and  an  Egyptian  mother,  is  hardly  supposable.  It  is 
entirely  natural  that  in  the  son  of  an  Egyptian  father,  the 
heathenish  blood  should  show  itself,  so  that  he  curses  the 
God  of  Israel. 

Numbers  11:  4. 
In  Num.  11:  4  it  is  said:  "  The  mixed  multitude  that  was 


See  the  preceding  note. 


THE  HELBEH.  221 

with  them  fell  a  lusting,  and  the  children  of  Israel  wept 
again,  and  said,  who  shall  give  us  flesh  to  eat?"  Verse  5: 
"  We  remember  the  fish,  which  we  did  eat  in  Egypt  freely  j 
the  cucumbers,  and  the  melons,  and  the  grass  (helbeh),  and 
the  onions,  and  the  garlic." 

This  passage  is  especially  important,  in  respect  to  the  con- 
nection of  the  Pentateuch  with  Egypt.  All  the  things  named 
in  it  certainly  existed  in  Egypt  in  great  abundance,  and  most 
of  them  were  distinguished  for  their  excellence ;  and  among 
those  means  of  subsistence,  which  ancient  Egypt  produced  in 
great  abundance,  which  were  generally  in  favor  with  the 
whole  people,  and  specially  with  them,  there  is  no  one  omit- 
ted. Among  those  named,  one  is  found,  the  grass  (helbeh), 
which  is  so  entirely  peculiar  to  Egypt,  that  interpreters  down 
to  the  latest  times  have  erred  in  reference  to  it,  since  they 
fail  to  derive  the  explanation  from  accurate  knowledge  of 
Egypt.  These  peculiarities  can  appear  natural  to  us,  in  this 
connection,  only  on  the  supposition  that  Moses  is  the  author 
of  the  Pentateuch,  but  on  that  hypothesis  they  are  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

We  begin  with  that  product,  the  naming  of  which  is  espe- 
cially worthy  of  notice,  and  suited  to  convince  us  of  the  au- 
thor's knowledge  of  Egypt. 


The  Grass  (helbeh),  -T^2£h . 

The  current  opinion,  as  it  is  found,  for  example,  in  R  o- 
s  e  n  m  u  e  1 1  e  r,  upon  this  passage,  and  in  G  e  s  e  n  i  u  s'  The- 
saurus, same  word,  is  this :  T'iin  means  here,  leek,  which  on 
account  of  its  grasslike  appearance  takes  this  name. 

But  this  opinion  is  entirely  without  foundation.  Appeal 
cannot  be  made  to  the  authority  of  the  ancient  translators.* 
For  who  can  give  us  security,  that  they,  supposing  that  all 

*  Septuagint,  nqdoa,  Vulgate,  porri. 
19* 


222  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

herbage  used  for  fodder  is  excluded,  and  looking  around 
among  the  productions  which  serve  men  for  food,  for  one  that 
at  least  furnishes  an  external  similarity  to  grass,  have  not 
merely  guessed  at  the  one  they  have  taken  ? 

But  the  correct  view  is  arrived  at  through  a  different  counter- 
argument. The  ^"*:»:h  has  etymologically  the  meaning  of 
food  for  cattle — it  is  originally  not  grass,  but  pasturage,  fod- 
der,* and  so  also  according  to  common  use.t  The  first  cri- 
terion for  the  correctness  of  the  interpretation  is,  therefore, 
that  the  article  of  food  which  is  identified  with  ^''^zh  must  be 
appropriately  food  for  beasts,  so  that  man  goes,  as  it  were,  to 
the  same  table  with  them.  Now  if  such  an  article  of  food 
could  by  no  means  be  found,  we  should  be  warranted  in  ■ 
giving  up  this  criterion,  which  is  entirely  wanting  in  the 
leek. 

But  among  the  wonders  of  the  natural  history  of  Egypt,  it 
is  mentioned  by  travellers  that  the  common  people  there  eat 
with  special  relish  a  kind  of  grass  similar  to  clover.  The  im- 
pression which  the  sight  of  this  makes  on  those  who  have 
travelled  much,  is  very  graphically  described  by  Mayr:J 
"  A  great  heap  of  clover  was  thrown  before  the  beasts,  and  a 
smaller  pile  of  clover-like  fodder  was  placed  before  the 
master  of  the  house  and  his  companions.  The  quadrupeds 
and  the  bipeds  ate  with  equal  greediness,  and  the  pile  of  the 
latter  was  all  gone  before  the  former  had  finished  theirs — this 
plant  is  very  similar  to  clover,  except  that  it  has  more  pointed 
•leaves  and  whitish  blossoms.  Enormous  quantities  are  eaten 
by  the  inhabitants,  and  it  is  not  unpalatable.  I  was  after- 
•wards,  when  hungry,  in  a  situation  to  lay  myself  down  upon 
the  fields  where  it  grows,  and  gi-aze  with  pleasure." 

*  See  Gesenius,  loc.  cit. 

t  E.  g.  1  Kings  18:  5.  Job  40  :  15,  and  otlier  passages.  Compare 
Gesenius. 

I  Reise  nach  Aegypien  u.  s.  w.  S.  226. 


THE    HELBEH.  ^  223 

RaffeneauDelile  gives  a  more  scientific  description  :* 
"The  fenu-grec  (trigonella  foenum  Graecum,  Linn.)  is  an 
annual  plant,  known  in  Egypt  under  the  name  of  Helbeh  ;  it 
very  much  resembles  clover.  The  people  of  the  country  find 
the  young  fresh  shoots,  before  blossoming,  a  very  delicious 
food." 

But  the  most  particular  and  the  best  account  is  found  in  S  o  n- 
nini.t  From  him  we  make  a  somewhat  copious  extract, 
since  it  clearly  shows  us  how  the  emigrating  Egyptians  and 
the  Israelites  could  among  other  things  also  look  back  longingly 
to  the  ^rass  of  Egypt:  "Although  this  helbeh  of  the  Egyptians 
is  a  nourishing  food  for  the  numerous  beasts  who  cover  the 
plains  of  the  Delta  ;  although  horses,  oxen  and  the  buffaloes 
eat  it  with  equal  relish,  it  appears  not  to  be  destined  especially 
for  the  sustenance  of  animals,  since  the  harsim  furnishes  an 
aliment  better  even  and  more  abundant.  But  that  which  will 
appear  very  extraordinary  is,  that  in  this  singularly  fertile 
country,  the  Egyptians  themselves  eat  the  fenu-grec  so  much 
that  it  can  properly  be  called  the  food  of  men.  In  the  month 
of  November,  they  cry,  "  Green  helbeh  for  sale,"  in  the 
streets  of  the  towns.  It  is  tied  up  in  large  bunches,  which 
the  inhabitants  eagerly  purchase  at  a  low  price,  and  which 
they  eat  with  an  incredible  greediness,  without  any  species  of 
seasoning.  They  pretend  that  this  singular  diet  is  an  excel- 
lent stomachic,  a  specific  against  worms  and  dysentery ;  in 
fine,  a  preservative  against  a  great  number  of  maladies.  Fi- 
nally, the  Egyptians  regard  this  plant  as  endowed  with  so 
many  good  qualities  that  it  is,  in  their  estimation,  a  true  pana- 
cea. Prosper  Alpinus  has  entered  into  long  details 
upon  its  use  in  medicine.  After  so  many  excellent  proper- 
ties, real  or  supposed,  it  is  not  astonishing  that  the  Egyptians 

"  Hist,  des  Plantes  cultiv.  en  Egypte,  §  2  :  Du  Trefle  d'Egypte  et 
du  Fenu-grec,  cultives  comme  fourages,  in  the  Description,  t.  19, 
p.  59seq. 

t  Voyage  dans  la  haute  et  basse  Egypte,  Tom.  I.  p.  379  seq. 


224  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

hold  the  fern-grec  in  so  great  estimation  that  according  to 
one  of  their  proverbs  :  Fortunate  are  the  feet  which  tread  the 
earth  on  which  grows  the  helbeh." 

Besides  those  named,  von  Schubert*  may  be  compared. 
He  says  :  "  The  kinds  of  clover  whose  young  shoots  and  leaves 
we  saw  eaten  in  many  ways  by  the  Egyptians,  were  the  hel- 
beh (trig,  foenum,  Gr.)  and  the  gilhan  (Lathyrus  sativus)." 

The  Fish. 
The  fact  that  fish  were  placed  first  in  the  narrative,  and 
also  the  phrase :  "  which  we  ate  in  Egypt  freely^''  indi- 
cate that  they  were  very  numerous.  And  it  is  so  well 
known  that  almost  incredible  numbers  exist  in  Egypt,  that 
we  need  not  quote  all  the  separate  proofs  of  the  fact.  We 
only  refer  to  Oedmann,t  Mayr,|  Bahr,||  Taylor,^ 
and  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n.**  But  it  should,  perhaps,  be  particularly 
mentioned  that  according  to  Herodotus  a  part  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  marshes  of  the  Delta,  shepherds,  who  proba- 
bly were  not  of  Egyptian  origin,  and  were  hatedtt  by  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil,  lived  entirely  on  fish.ft 

The  Cucumber. 
Upon  the  cucumber,  also,  we  need  not  delay  long.     It  is 

-  Reise,  Th.  II.  S.  107. 

t  Verm.  Samml.  1,  S.136.  Radzivil  says  there  :  "  We  saw,  to-day, 
about  a  hundred  fishermen  lying  in  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Nile,  and 
catching  fish  with  their  hands.  Some  of  them  came  up  with  three 
fish — one  in  each  hand  and  one  in  the  mouth.  The  fish  were  an  ell 
long,  and  of  different  kinds."  t  Mayr,  S.  188. 

II  Zu  Herodotus,  I.  S.658.  U  P.  62seq. 

**  Vol.  III.  p.  63.  ft  SeeBahr,l.c.S.687;  Heeren,  S.  150. 

tt  Minutoli  stands  entirely  alone  in  his  assertion,  S.  406  :  "  In  fish 
the  Nile  is  poor,  as  well  in  respect  to  numbers  as  in  variety  of  species, 
of  whicli  there  are  not  many."  Were  this  correct,  we  should  despair 
of  ever  finding  truth  in  history.  But  we  will  not  trouble  ourselves 
about  that  in  anticipation. 


MELONS ONIONS.  225 

known  that  tliey  exist  in  Egypt,  and  of  peculiar  excellence. 
They  .are  large,  of  fine  flavor,  and  very  much  eaten.* 


The  Melons,  D'^n'^tSlN  . 

The  melons  are  of  very  great  importance  to  Egypt.  The 
following  passages  from  S  o  n  n  i  n  i,t  best  show  how  they 
could  become  objects  of  general  longing  in  the  desert,  where 
"  The  souls  of  the  people  were  dry,"  verse  6.  But  the  spe- 
cies of  fruit  which,  by  its  pulp  and  its  refreshing  water,  best 
serves  to  moderate  the  internal  heat  which  the  climate  gene- 
rates, is  the  pasteJc  or  water-melon  (cucurbita  citrullus).J 
The  markets  are  filled  with  them,  and  they  sell  at  so  very 
small  a  price,  that  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  can  refresh 
themselves  with  their  watery  and  sweet  juice.  They  are  a 
healthful  nourishment,  and  useful  in  the  climate  where  the 
heat  makes  the  blood  boil,  and  gives  sharpness  to  the  hu- 
mors."§ 

Onions. 
The  onions  of  Egypt  are  also  far  renowned  and  much 
praised.  They  are  often  represented  in  the  sculptures. |1  Ac- 
cording to  A  r  V  i  e  u  x,^  they  are  sweet  and  large,  and  taste 
better  than  those  of  Smyrna.  Hasselquist**  protests 
that  there  are  in  the  whole  world  none  better.  Herodotus 
shows  that  they  were,  in  antiquity,  frequently  an  article  of 
diet  of  the  people,  and  a  common  food  of  those  who  labored 

*  Compare  the  passage  from  Prosper  Alpinus  which  has  already 
been  quoted  by  Rosenmueller ;  Forskal,  Flora,  p.  169  ;  Description, 
1. 19.  p.  109  ;  De  Sacy  upon  Abdollatiph,  p.  125  ;  and  Abdollatiph 
himself,  p.  34  ;  Hartmann,  Aeg.  S.  180. 

t  Th.  3.  S.  101.  I  Aegyptiis  battich  Forsk,  p.  75. 

§  See  also  Sonnini,  p.  109;  Abdollatiph,  p.  35;  De  Sacy,  p.  127 
and  8. 

II  Wilk.  II.  p.  373.  IT  Hartmann,  S.  180. 

**  P.  562. 


226  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

upon  the  pyramids.*  In  what  estimation  they  are  now  held, 
we  see  from  S  o  n  n  i  n  i  :t  "  This  species  of  vegetable  is  yet 
extraordinarily  common  in  this  country  :  it  is  the  aliment  of 
the  more  ordinary  of  the  people,  and  almost  the  only  food  of 
the  lowest  class.  Onions,  cooked  or  raw,  are  sold  in  the 
streets  and  markets  for  almost  nothing.  These  onions  have 
not  the  tartness  of  those  of  Europe;  they  are  sweet;  they 
sting  not  the  mouth  unpleasantly ;  and  they  do  not  produce 
weeping  in  those  who  cut  them." 

The  Garlic. 

Finally,  the  garlic,  just  as  here,  is  spoken  of  by  H  e  r  o  d  o  -^ 
t  u  s,  in  connection  with  the  onion,  as  a  principal  article  of 
food,  especially  of  the  poorest  classes.  P I  i  n  yj  also  speaks 
of  the  two  in  connection.  Dioscorides  describes  the 
garlic  among  the  plants  of  Egypt ;  and  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i§  thinks 
he  has  discovered  it  upon  a  painting  in  Beni  Hassan.  It  is 
not  now  produced  in  Egypt  ;|1  just  as  also  other  plants  very 
abundant  in  Egypt  in  former  times,  especially  the  papyrus- 
plant,  are  now  either  entirely  or  almost  entirely  extinct.^ 

Numbers  17:  2. 

According  to  Num.  17:  2,  Moses  takes  from  each  one  of 
the  twelve  princes  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  a  rod  and  writes 
their  name  thereon.     The  name  of  each  person,  Wilkin- 

*  B.  2.  c.  125.  t  Tom.  II.  S.  66,  67. 

+  Hist  Nat.  19.6:  allium  cepasque  inter  deos  in  Jurejurando  ha- 
bent  Aegyptii. 

§   Vol.11.  1.  S.  383.  II  Sonnini,  p.  68. 

1i  What  Michaud  says,  torn.  8.  p.  .56,  concerning  the  manner  of  living 
among  the  Fellahs  in  the  Delta  may  be  compared  with  this  whole  pas- 
sage :  "  Rien  ncgale  la  sobrietc  de  ce  peuple  :  il  soutient  sa  vie  avec 
quelques  licrbes^  des  concombres,  des  oignons,  un  mauvais  pain  de 
dourah  ou  lentilles. 


DISEASES  OF  EGYPT  SEVERE.  227 

s  o  n,*  remarks  was  frequently  written  on  his  stick,  instances  of 
wliich  I  have  seen  in  those  found  at  Thebes." 


Deuteronomy  6:  9,  and  11:  20. 

The  passages,  Deut.  chap.  6:  9  :  ''And  thou  shall  write 
them  (the  divine  commands)  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house, 
and  on  thy  gates,"  and  11:  20,  imply  that  the  custom  of  giving 
to  houses  inscriptions,  was  quite  common  among  the  people 
with  whom  the  Israelites  dwelt.t  According  to  the  monu- 
ments, the  name  of  the  owner  of  a  house  among  the  Egyp- 
tians was  not  unfrequently  written  upon  the  lintels  of  the 
doors. f  "  Besides  the  owner's  name,"  says  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,§ 
"  they  sometimes  wrote  a  lucky  sentence  over  the  entrance 
of  the  house  for  a  favorable  omen,  and  the  lintels  and  imposts 
of  the  doors  in  the  royal  mansions,  were  often  covered  with 
hieroglyphics,  containing  the  ovals  and  titles  of  the  monarch." 

The  Diseases  of  Egypt  severe.     Deut.  7:  15,   28:   27,  35 
and  60.     Ex.  15:  26. 

In  Deut.  7:  15  it  is  said  :  "And  the  Lord  will  remove  from 
thee  all  sickness,  and  will  put  none  of  the  evil  diseases  of 
Egypt,  which  thou  knowest,  upon  thee."  A  similar  expres- 
sion is  also  found  in  Ex.  15 :  26,  "  If  thou  wilt  diligently 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  will  do  that 
which  is  right  in  his  sight,  and  will  give  ear  to  his  command- 
ments, and  keep  all  his  statutes,  I  will  put  none  of  these  dis- 
eases upon  thee,  which  I  have  brought  upon  the  Egyptians, 
for  I  the  Lord  am  He  who  healeth  thee."  In  Deut  28  :  60 
it  is  said :  ''And  the  Lord  will  bring  again  upon  thee  all  the 

*  Vol.  III.  p.  388.  t  See  Beitr.  Th.  2.  S.  459. 

tSee  engraving  in  Wilk.  Vol.  II.  102. 

§  Vol.  II.  p.  123-4,  and  concerning  the  inscriptions  on  the  gates  of 
the  gardens,  p.  144. 


228  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

diseases  of  Egypt  of  which  thou  wast  afraid,  and  they  shall 
cleave  to  thee."  In  verses  27  and  35  of  the  same  chapter, 
erring  Israel  is  threatened  with  the  infliction  of  a  sickness 
peculiarly  Egyptian  concerning  which  we  have  already  in 
another  connection  made  investigation. 

All  of  these  scattered  passages  agree  in  this,  that  Egypt 
in  reference  to  diseases,  is  a  very  peculiar  land,  and  is  vis- 
ited by  them  in  a  very  special  degree.  The  accounts  of  all 
those  who  have  made  the  diseases  of  Egypt  an  object  of 
particular  attention,  show  that  the  author  is  right  in  this. 
Wagn  er*  in  his  Natural  History  of  man,  calls  Egypt  "a 
great  focus  of  the  diseases  in  universal  history."  De  Cha- 
b  r  o  1  in  his  "  enquiry  concerning  the  customs  of  the  modern- 
inhabitants  of  Egypt,"  of  the  most  important  diseases,  says  : 
'*  With  an  almost  equable  temperature  and  with  an  always 
serene  sky,  Egypt  can  have  only  a  small  number  of  diseases, 
but  they  are  for  the  most  part  terrible."t 

The  same  author  then  speaks  of  single  maladies,  the  plague, 
which  is  almost  never  wanting  in  Cairo,  and  particularly  in 
Alexandria,  the  dysentery  of  which  he  says  :  "  This  disease 
causes  great  destruction  among  them  and  especially  attacks 
the  children,  which  it  carries  off  in  a  frightful  manner ;"  the 
diseases  of  the  eyes  with  which  one  at  least  out  of  five  indi- 
viduals is  afflicted,  the  small-pox  which  in  Egypt  is  frightful 
and  rages  far  worse  than  in  Europe,  etc. 

In  the  "  observations  upon  several  diseases  which  attacked 
the  soldiers  of  the  French  army,"  four  seasons  of  the  year  are 
madet  with  reference  to  healthfulness.  The  first  comprises 
the  time  of  the  inundation,  '*  I  name,"  says  the  author,  "this 
first  season  of  the  year  which  continues  about  three  months, 
the  damp  season  ;  it  may  be  considered  as  the  winter  of  the 
country.     The   west   wind   which  then   blows,  increases  the 

*  Th.  II.  S.  270.  t  Description  t.  7.  p.  43  seq.  §.  8 

\  In  the  Descr.  t.  13,  p.  216  seq. 


DISEASES    OF  EG\PT  SEVERE.  229 

dampness  of  the  atmosphere  which  at  evening  and  especially 
in  the  morning  is  full  of  mist.  The  consequence  is  a  cool- 
ness which  is  uncomfortable  and  detrimental  to  animal  secre- 
tions. In  this  season  of  the  year  diseases  of  the  eyes,  the 
hospital  fever,  diarrhoea  and  catarrhal  pains  prevail."*  "  The 
third  season  of  the  year  says  the  same  author  further,  "which 
I  will  give  the  name  of  the  sick  season,  since  it  is  destructive 
to  the  health  of  the  inhabitants  and  especially  of  strangers, 
begins  about  the  first  of  March  and  continues  generally  until 
about  the  end  of  May.  The  south  wind  takes  the  place  of 
the  east  wind  which  had  prevailed  during  the  earlier  part  of 
the  year.  These  south  winds  are  first  light  but  they  increase 
gradually — they  afterwards  decrease  in  the  same  way — and 
indeed  to  such  a  degree  that  during  a  period  of  about  50 
days,  from  which  they  have  taken  the  name  chamsin,  they 
are  very  violent  and  hot,  and  hence  would  become  insupport- 
able, if  they  blew  without  cessation.  At  this  season  of  the 
year  wounds  heal  with  difficulty,  and  are  easily  seized  with 
mortification.  Sicknesses  of  all  kinds  take  an  unusual  char- 
acter and  require  the  greatest  carefulness  on  the  part  of  the 
physician,  and  in  general  all  living  beings  are  more  or  less 
affected.f" 

Cultivation  of  the  Land  in  Egypt  and  Palestine, 

Deut  11:  10,  11. 

In  Deut.  11:  10  and  11  it  is  said:  "For  the  land  whither 

thou  goest  in  to  possess  it,   is  not  as  the  land  of  Egypt,  from 

whence  ye  came  out,  where  thou  sowedst  thy  seed,  and  water- 

*  Of  this  same  time  says  Abdollatiph,  p.  4.  De  Sacy  :  During  this 
season  of  the  year  unhealthful  evaporations  prevail ;  the  air  is  bad — 
putrid  diseases,  caused  by  bilious  and  phlegmy  humors,  rage  among 
the  inhabitants. 

I  Compare  also  upon  the  diseases  of  Egypt  Prosper  Alpinus,  De 
Medicina  Aeg.  ed.  Friedreich,  t.  1.  p.  95  seq.  :  De  morbis  Aegyptiis 
peculiaribus  eorumque  causis ;  and  Hartmann,  Aegj'pt.  S.  54  ff,  where 
20 


230  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

edst  it  with  thy  foot  as  a  garden  of  herbs  :  but  the  land  whither 
ye  go  to  possess  it,  is  a  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  drinketh 
water  of  the  rain  of  heaven."  These  verses  furnish  occasion 
for  the  following  remarks : 

1.  The  supposition  that  Egypt  is  without  rain  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  this  passage.  Against  the  correctness  of  this 
implication,  the  accounts  of  modern  travellers  cannot  be  ad- 
duced in  argument,  according  to  whom,  especially  in  Lower 
Egypt  it  certainly  sometimes  rains;  for  these  rains  are  yet 
proportionally  so  seldom  and,  what  is  the  principal  thing, 
to  which  reference  is  made  in  this  immediate  connection,  they 
have  so  little  influence  in  fertilizing  the  earth,  that  the  clas- 
sical writers  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  Egypt  as  if  it  never 
rained  there.  Herodotus*  says  perfectly  plainly,  "it 
rains  not  in  their  land."t  Collections  concerning  rain  in 
Egypt  are  given  by  F  a  b  e  r,|  N  o  r  d  m  e  i  e  r§  and  Hart- 
man  n.|| 

2.  The  author  in  designating  Canaan  in  opposition  to 
Egypt,  as  a  land  of  mountains  and  valleys,  places  in  the  flat- 
ness of  country  of  Egypt  the  cause  of  absence  of  rain,  and 
that  he  in  this  way  proves  himself  acquainted  with  the  nat- 
ural condition  of  Egypt  no  man  can  deny.^ 

blindness  is  designated  as  tJie  most  to  be  feared  of  any  of  them. 
Volney  found  among  100  persons  who  met  him,  oftentimes  twenty 
entirely  blind,  ten  blind  with  one  eye  and  twenty  others  whose  eyes 
were  either  red  or  festered  or  diseased  in  some  other  way. 

*  B.  2.  c.  14. 

1  Compare  Diod.  1.  41.  Plinius  Panegyr.  c.  30  :  Aegyptus  alendis 
augcndieque  seminibus  ita  gloriata  est,  ut  nihil  imbribus  coeloque 
deberct.  Mela  names  Aeg.  expers  imbrium.  Lucilius  in  Seneca, 
Nat.  Quaest  IV.  2  :  Nemo  aratorum  aspicit  coelum,  and  Tibullus  : 
nee  pluvio  supplicat  herba  Jovi. 

1  Zu  den  Beob.  a.  d.  Orient,  B.  1.  S.  4  ff.  2.  S  347  ft'. 

§  In  the  Calend.  Aeg.  p.  11  and  20.  ||  S.  197. 

IT  Vossius  upon  Mela  L.  1.  c.  9.  §  1.  ed.  Tzschuck.  III.  1.  p.  247. 
says:  Quaerit  vero  causum  Aristobulus  apud   Strabonem  1.  15.  (p. 


RAIN  IN  EGYPT  AND  PALESTINE.  231 

3.  It  appears  at  first  view  remarkable  that  the  author  rep- 
resents it  as  a  superiority  of  Canaan  over  Egypt,  that  it  is 
subject  to  rain,  and  is  not  watered  by  a  river.  If  we 
compare  what  Herodotus*  says  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
region  below  Memphis,  the  thing  will  assume  quite  another 
phasis.  "For  now  indeed  these  people  obtain  the  fruits  of 
their  land  with  far  less  trouble  and  labor  than  other  people, 
even  than  the  other  Egyptians.  They  need  not  trouble  them- 
selves to  turn  up  furrows  with  the  plough,  nor  to  dig  with  the 
hoe,  nor  with  any  other  kind  of  labor,  which  men  bestow 
upon  the  earth,  but  the  river  comes  of  its  own  accord  upon 
their  land  and  waters  it,  and  having  done  this,  it  leaves  it 
again,  and  then  each  one  sows  his  ground."  The  great  fa- 
cility of  cultivation  in  Egypt  is  also  asserted  by  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i.t 
But  if  we  examine  the  affair  more  minutely,  it  appears  that  the 
author  is  perfectly  right,  and  that  the  error,  if  it  is  altogether 
an  error,  falls  rather  on  the  side  ofHerodotusJ  and  those 
who  take  him  as  authority. 

First,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  Herodotus  particularly 

476  s.  692.)  quare,  cum  in  Syene  imbres  cadant,  intermedia  tantum 
loca  pluvia  omnino  careant.  Quaestio  haec  ibi  proponitur,  sed  non 
solvitur.  Ratio  tamen  est  manifesta,  quia  nempe  ilia  Aegypti  pars, 
ubi  nullae  cadunt  pluviae,  plana,  hurailis,  sicca,  arenosa  ac  calida  est 
admodum,  utpote  torridae  zonae  vicina.  Vapores  itaque,  qui  a  terra 
arida  egrediuntur,  cum  rari  admodum  et  tenues  sjnt,  aut  noclu  deci- 
dunt  in  rorem  mutati,  aut  toti  ab  aestu  consumuntur,  priusquam  in 
pluviam  abeant.  At  vero  tractus  Syeniticus,  quia  excelsus  et  mon- 
tosus  est,  nessessario  pluviis  abundat.  Ubi  enim  montes,  ibi  nivium  et 
aquarum  lapsus  perpetui. 

*B.  2.  c.  14.  til.  1.  p.  288. 

+  Bahr  upon  Herodotus  says:  Herodoteis  similia  proferunt  Diod.  1. 
36.,  Columella  II.  25.,  Athenaeus  V.  8.  Sed  recentioris  aetatis  scrip- 
tores  si  audias,  vix  ulla  invenitur  terra,  quae  quo  fructus  ferat  magis 
hominum  opera  indigeat  quam  Aegyptus.  Quae  cum  ita  sint,  nisi 
erroris  patrem  historiae  incusare  velis,  ejus  verba  non  ad  omnem 
Aegyptum  erunt  referenda,  sed  ad  unam  modo  alteramve  ejus  partem, 
eximia  agrorum  fertilitate  insignem. 


232  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

designates  only  those  labors  as  unnecessary  for  the  Egyptians, 
which  in  other  lands  precede  seed-sowing.  But  in  Egypt, 
the  burdensome  labor,  the  watering,  begins  not  until  after 
the  seed  is  sown,  and  this  circumstance  is  made  very  parti- 
cularly prominent  in  our  passage.  That  irrigation  is  really 
a  very  laborious  employment,  is  confirmed  by  many  witnesses. 
*'  F  o  r  s  k  a  1,"  says  O  e  d  m  a  n  n,*  "  has  shown  that  the  culti- 
vation of  the  land  in  Egypt  requires  more  toil  than  one  would 
imagine.  The  watering  must  be  often  repeated,  and  for  that 
purpose  the  land  is  intersected  by  canals.  These  canals 
must  be  cleared  out  yearly,  and  sustained  by  hedges,  etc. 
planted  on  their  banks.  And  in  S  h  a  w,t  it  can  also  be 
seen  with  what  indescribable  pains  the  water  must  be  con- 
ducted through  the  numerous  little  channels,  to  furnish  sus- 
tenance for  the  productions  of  the  land,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
various  machines  which  are  drawn  by  buffaloes,  and  are  used 
for  carrying  up  the  water  to  the  gardens,  after  the  canals  and 
cisterns  are  dry."  The  difficulty  of  cultivation  in  Egypt 
G  i  r  a  r  d|  also  asserts.  A  single  '  Feddan  Doorah'  sometimes 
requires,  according  to  him,  a  hundred  days'  works  of  water- 
ing. Prokesch§  says:  "The  watering  is  indispensably 
necessary,  and  must  be  performed  at  stated  intervals.  It  is 
the  custom  to  water  the  fields  in  winter  once  in  fourteen 
days,  in  the  spring,  if  the  dew  falls  sufficiently,  once  in  twelve 
days,  but  in  the  summer  once  in  eight  days."  The  same 
author  describesll  the  various  machines  for  irrigation.  Fi- 
nally, Michaud^  says:  "The  labor  of  tillage  is  not  that 
which  most  occupies  the  agricultural  population  here;  for 
the  land  is  easy  to  cultivate.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  water 
the  fields;  even  the  most  robust  of  the  Fellahs  are  employed 
to  raise  the  water  and  perform  the  irrigation." 

••  Verm.  Beitr.  1.  S.  126.  t  Page  172. 

t  In  the  Descr.  t.  17.  p.  56.         §  In  den  Erinnerung.  Th.  2.  S.  135. 

II  S.  137.  r  Correspondence  from  the  East,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  54 


IRRIGATION  IN  EGYPT.  233 

Further,  it  must  not  be  overlooked,  that  Herodotus 
speaks  only  of  a  single  region  of  Egypt,  of  that  which  enjoys 
the  blessings  of  the  Nile  in  the  fullest  measure.  He  expli- 
citly contrasts  the  inhabitants  of  the  region  below  Memphis 
with  the  rest  of  the  Egyptians.  But  our  passage  has  parti- 
cularly in  view  that  part  of  Egypt  which  was  inhabited  by 
the  Israelites.  This  lay  upon  the  borders  of  the  desert,  and 
the  blessings  of  the  Nile  could  be  appropriated  to  them  only 
by  means  of  the  greatest  exertions. 

Finally,  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  Canaan  of  which 
the  author  speaks  is  in  a  manner  an  ideal  land.  It  was 
never  what  it  might  have  been,  since  the  bond  of  allegiance, 
in  consequence  of  which  God  had  promised  to  give  the  land 
its  rain  in  its  season,  was  always  far  from  being  perfectly 
complied  with. 

4.  That  our  passage  is  spoken  in  opposition  to  the  boast- 
ing of  the  Egyptians,  who  looked  down  with  proud  pity  upon 
all  other  lands,  since  these  had  no  Nile,  is  probable  from  a 
comparison  of  Herodotus,  2.  13,  which  has  a  striking  re- 
lation to  our  passage:  "For  when  they  heard  that  in  all 
the  country  of  the  Greeks  the  land  is  watered  by  rain,  and 
not  by  rivers,  as  in  Egypt,  they  said,  *  the  Greeks,  disap- 
pointed in  their  brightest  hopes,  will  sometimes  suffer  severe 
famine ;'  which  means,  if  God  at  some  time  shall  not  send 
rain,  but  drought,  then  famine  will  press  upon  them,  for  they 
can  obtain  water  only  from  God."  This  phrase,  'only  from 
God,'  which  seems  so  terrible  to  the  Egyptians,  is  here  repre- 
sented as  a  mark  of  favor  to  the  people,  which  has  God  for 
its  friend,  and  to  which  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  its  God  are  di- 
rected from  the  beginning  until  the  end  of  the  year,  verse  12. 

5.  The  words :  "  Where  thou  sowedst  thy  seed  and  wa- 
teredst  it  with  thy  foot  as  a  garden  of  herbs,"  shows  at  least 
that  the  author  was  acquainted  with  the  manner  of  irrigation 
in  Egypt,  and  is  most  easily  explained  on  the  supposition  that 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  manner  of  life  among  the  Egyp^ 

20* 


234         EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

tians  by  personal  observation.  At  the  first  view,  these  words 
appear  without  doubt  to  have  reference  to  an  Egyptian  wa- 
tering machine  described  by  P  h  i  1  o,*  with  which  they  carried 
the  water  from  the  Nile  and  its  canals  into  the  fields.  This 
machine,  a  wheel  for  raising  water  turned  by  the  foot,  is  even 
now  in  use  in  Egypt.  Nevertheless,  since  the  authority  of 
D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s,  for  the  newness  of  the  invention  of  this  machine, 
scarcely  sufficient  of  itself,  (he  mentions!  that  it  was  in- 
vented by  Archimedes,)  is  confirmed  by  the  circumstance 
that  this  machine  is  not  represented  in  the  sculptures,|  whilst 
the  machine,  now  most  common  for  irrigation,  the  shaduf, 
is  found  even  on  very  ancient  monuments,^  it  is  most 
natural  to  refer  the  words  rather  to  the  carrying  of  the  water 
in  which  the  foot  has  the  most  to  do.  This  process  we  find  also 
represented  on  the  Egyptian  monuments.  1 1  Two  men  are  there 
employed  in  watering  a  piece  of  cultivated  land.  They  bear 
upon  their  shoulders  a  yoke  with  straps  at  each  end,  to  which 
earthen  vessels  are  fastened.  They  fill  these  with  water  from 
a  neighboring  shaduf  or  from  a  pool,  and  carry  it  to  the  field. 
Another  stands  there  with  a  bundle  of  herbs  which  he  ap- 
pears to  have  just  collected,  by  which  the  phrase,  '  like  an 
herb-garden,'  is  very  naturally  suggested. 

G.  The  whole  passage  transfers  us,  in  a  manner  inimitable 
by  a  modern  writer,  to  the  time  in  which  the  Israelites  were 
stationed  midway  between  Egypt  and  Canaan,  yet  full  of  the 
advantages  which  they  had  enjoyed  in  the  former  land,  and 
in  want  of  a  counterpoise  to  the  longing  desire  for  that  which 
they  had  lost. 

Deuteronomy  17:  16. 
Among  the  precepts  for  the  king,  Deut.  chap,  xvii,  it  is  said, 

*  De  Confusione  Ling.  p.  255.  t  I.  34.     5.  37. 

t  Wilk.  II.  p.  5.  §  Wilk.I.  p.  53.  II.p.4.     Ros.II.l.  p.385. 

II  See  tlie  engraving  from  Beni  Hassan  in  Wilk.  II.  p.  137,  and  the 
descrip.  in  Ros.  II.  1.  p.  382-3. 


HORSES  IN  PALESTINE.  235 

verse  16 :  "  Only  he  shall  not  multiply  horses  to  himself,  nor 
cause  the  people  to  return  to  Egypt,  so  that  he  may  multiply 
horses ;  for  the  Lord  hath  said  to  you :  Ye  shall  not  return 
back  again  that  way."  It  was  shown  in  the  Contributions,* 
that  the  apprehension  here  spoken  of,  that  the  love  of 
horses  in  the  king  could  finally  cause  the  whole  people  to  re- 
turn to  Egypt,  was  entirely  natural  in  Moses'  time,  when  a 
uniting  of  the  band  just  now  severed  appears  not  impossible, 
when  the  people  from  the  most  trivial  cause  uttered  their 
longing  for  Egypt,  or  even  their  determination  to  return,! 
but  not  natural  in  the  period  of  Solomon  and  the  later  kings. 
Indeed,  such  a  thing  could  not  even  have  been  in  Joshua's 
time,  when  the  people  had  come  to  a  full  consciousness  of  their 
national  independence,  and  every  thought  on  the  possibility  of 
a  reunion  with  the  Egyptians  was  obliterated.  In  the  same 
place  it  was  also  remarked,  that  Egypt  also  appears  in  this 
passage  as  the  only  country  in  which  horses  were  raised, 
while  indeed  in  the  age  of  Solomon,  Palestine  was  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  distinguished  for  the  same  thing,  so  that  it  could 
no  longer  be  supposed  that  a  king  who  wished  to  be  the  pos- 
sessor of  many  horses  must  go  to  Egypt. 


Kind  Treatment  of  the  Israelites  by  Individual  Egyptians. 
Deut.  23:  8  (7). 

In  the  arrangement  concerning  those  who  are  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  congregation,  and  those  who  are  to  be  ex- 
cluded, in  Deut.  23:  8  (7),  it  is  said  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  abhor 
an  Egyptian,  because  thou  wast  a  stranger  in  his  land." 
This  passage  implies  that  the  Israelites  received  in  some 
respects  better  treatment  from  individuals  of  the  Egyptians 
separately,  tlian  from  the  State,  so  that  the  Israelites  had  cause 
for  grateful  regard  to  them  in  turn ;  since  the  phrase,  "  For 

^  Th.  3.  S.  247-8. 

t  See  Ex.  14  :  11.     Num.  11:  5  seq.  21:  5,  7. 


236  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 

thou  wast  a  stranger  in  his  land,"  is  not  a  sufficient  reason 
tor  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  abhor  an  Egyptian,"  un- 
less it  means  that  the  Egyptians  performed  the  offices  of  hos- 
pitality to  the  Israelites,  and  earned  for  themselves  the  claim 
of  reciprocity.  In  accurate  agreement  with  this,  we  read  in 
Exodus  that  God  gave  the  Israelites,  as  they  were  departing, 
favor  with  the  Egyptians,  turned  their  hearts  to  them  in  love 
and  compassion,  so  that  they  gave  them  rich  presents  for  their 
journey.  The  agreement  in  so  nice  a  circumstance  between 
passages  so  entirely  disconnected,  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  also 
the  contents  of  each  passage  by  itself.  It  is  natural  in  a  rep- 
resentation drawn  from  acquaintance  with  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  things,  that  the  contradictions  which  real  life  always 
furnishes,  should  come  in  for  a  share ;  a  mythic  representa- 
tion, on  the  contrary,  would  certainly  avoid  this  apparent 
contradiction,  and  would  here  leave  to  the  Egyptians  only 
hatred  and  hostility  and  a  correspondent  relation  of  the  Israel- 
ites to  them. 


Deuteronomy  23:  12,  13. 

The  precepts  upon  the  not  defiling  of  the  camp,  etc.,  in 
Deut.  23:  12,  13,  reminds  us  of  what  Herodotus*  says  of 
the  Egyptians :  "  They  tvixugsT]  xQ^ojviat  in  houses,  and  eat 
without,  in  the  streets ;  for  they  think  that  things  which  are 
unseemly,  but  necessary,  must  be  done  in  secret ;  but  what 
is  not  unseemly,  before  all  the  world. "f  If  a  custom  of  this 
kind  had  been  established  among  the  Egyptians,  from  among 
whom  the  Israelites  came,  it  could  not  be  violated  by  the  Is- 
raelites without  offending  against  decorum,  and  the  law  comes 
in  with  its  mandates  to  obviate  this  difficulty. 

*  B.  2.  c.  35. 

t  Compare  Bahr  concerning  the  varying  custom  among  the  Greeks, 
S.  557. 


DEUTERONOMY  25:  4.  28:  56.  237 

Threshing  with  Oxen,  Deut.  25 :  4. 
In  Deut.  25 :  4  it  is  forbidden  to  muzzle  the  ox  when  he 
treadeth  out  the  corn.  Both  ancient  writers*  and  the  monu- 
ments show  that  oxen  were  used  in  Egypt  for  threshing. 
Champolliont  says,  in  describing  the  subterranean 
apartment  at  Elkab  (Elethya),  which  belongs  to  the  reign  of 
Remeses  Meiamun  :  "Among  other  things  I  have  myself  seen 
there  the  treading  out  or  the  threshing  of  the  sheafs  of  grain 
by  oxen,  and  over  the  engraving  may  be  read,  in  almost  en- 
tirely phonetic  characters,  the  song  which  the  overseer  sings 
while  threshing : 

"  Tread  ye  out  for  j'^ourselves, 
Tread  ye  out  for  yourselves, 

O  oxen  1 
Tread  ye  out  for  yourselves, 
Tread  ye  out  for  yourselves, 

the  straw ; 
For  men,  who  are  your  masters, 

the  grain." 

Of  this  same  representation  at  Elethya,  Rosellinit 
says:  ''They  make  a  great  heap  of  ears  in  the  midst  of  the 
threshing-floor,  and  cause  them  to  be  trodden  out  by  six  oxen, 
which  are  kept  in  constant  motion  by  a  man  who  goes  behind 
with  a  whip."  In  regard  to  the  signification  of  the  hiero- 
glyphics, R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  agrees  with  Champollion. 


Deuteronomy  28 :  56. 
In  Deut.  28: 56,  the  "  tender  and  delicate  woman"  is  men- 
tioned, "  who  would  not  adventure  to  set  the  sole  of  her  foot 
upon  the  ground  for  delicateness  and  tenderness."  Here 
also  we  are  reminded  of  the  state  of  things  in  Egypt.  The 
luxury  of  the  Egyptian  women  exceeded  that  of  all  other 
nations.^ 

*  See  Bahr  upon  Herodotus  I.  p.  508.  t  Briefe,  S. 

±  il.  1.  p.  308.  §  Taylor,  p.  173,4. 


238  EGYPT  AND  THE  BOOKS  OF  MOSES. 


Deuteronomy  5:  15.  4:  20.  6:  20seq.  7:  8,  etc. 
In  numerous  passages  of  Deuteronomy,  the  Israelites  are 
admonished  to  keep  the  law  by  reminding  them  of  their  sad 
condition  in  Egypt,  and  the  favor  shown  in  bringing  them  out 
— a  motive  which  implies  that  the  consciousness  of  this  con- 
dition and  this  favor  was  yet  entirely  fresh  and  lively.  In 
Deut.  5:  15,  after  it  had  been  said  that  the  rest  of  the  Sab- 
bath shall  be  granted  to  the  servant,  it  is  added :  *'  And  re- 
member that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
that  the  Lord  thy  God  brought  thee  out  thence."  In  the 
same  verse  is  the  duty  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  holy,  founded 
on  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  In  chap.  24:  18,  after  the  or- 
der not  to  pervert  the  right  judgment  of  the  stranger  or  the 
fatherless,  or  take  the  widow's  garment  in  pledge,  it  is  said  : 
'*  But  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a  bondman  in 
Egypt,  and  the  Lord  thy  God  redeemed  thee  thence  :  there- 
fore I  command  thee  to  do  this  thing."*  Similar  references 
are  found  indeed  in  the  earlier  books. t  That  they  are  espe- 
cially numerous  in  Deuteronomy,  is  explained  from  the  pre- 
ponderance of  the  admonitory  element  in  the  book ;  from  the 
fact  that  it,  more  than  the  remaining  books,  (which  present 
the  law  in  its  bare  objectivity,)  appeals  to  the  heart  of  the 
Israelites,  in  order  to  bring  the  law  nearer  to  it,  which  was  one 
principal  design  of  the  book. 

We  have  reached  the  limit  of  our  inquiry.  V.  Bohlen, 
in  his  Introduction  to  Genesis, J  supposes  that  the  knowledge 
of  Egypt  which  is  found  in  the  Pentateuch,  can  be  wholly 
explained  from  the  intercourse  between  the  Israelites  and  the 
Egyptians  in  the  age  of  Solomon.  But  those  Egyptian  refer- 
ences with  which  he  was  acquainted,  filled  scarcely  half  a 

'  Compare  chap.  4:  20.  6:  20  seq.  7:  8.  15:  15.  16:  12.  24:  22. 
t  See  Ex.22:  20.   Lev.  19:  34.  t  S.41. 


CONCLUSION.  239 

page,*  and  indeed  in  order  to  explain  these  from  later  circum- 
stances, he  was  obliged  to  labor  by  availing  himself  of  a  num- 
ber of"  mistakes  and  inaccuracies"  with  reference  to  Egypt, 
to  bring  counter-arguments  for  the  later  age  of  the  narrator, 
and  for  his  position  out  of  Egypt.  We  have  proved  that  these 
pretended  *'  mistakes  and  inaccuracies"  are  just  so  many 
proofs  of  the  ignorance  of  him  who  alleged  them.  We  have 
also  shown  that  the  Egyptian  references  of  the  Pentateuch  are 
beyond  comparison  more  numerous  and  direct  than  was  hith- 
erto supposed.  The  unprejudiced  critic  henceforth  will  be 
obliged  to  recognize  in  the  connection  of  the  Pentateuch 
with  Egypt,  one  of  the  most  powerful  arguments  for  its  credi- 
bility and  for  its  composition  by  Moses. 

*  S.  54. 


APPENDIX. 

MANETHO   AND   THE  HYCSOS 


I.  Manetho. 


The  prevailing  opinion  is,  that  Manetho  was  the  chief  of 
the  priests  in  Heliopolis  who  were  the  most  distinguished  for 
learning  of  any  in  Egypt,  and  wrote  under  the  patronage  of 
king  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  by  the  aid  of  the  writings  found 
in  the  sanctuaries  of  the  temples.* 

But  there  are  several  strong  objections  to  this  opinion  : 
1.  In  the  specification  of  the  gods  and  demi-gods  who  ruled 
Egypt,  according  to  Manetho,  before  men,  a  remarkable 
ignorance  of  Egyptian  divinity  is  exhibited,  a  strange  min- 
gling of  Greek  and  Egyptian  names  of  deities, — Mars,  Apollo 
and  Ammon  are  found  as  demi-gods,  and  Jupiter  Ammon  is 
divided  into  two  divine  persons,  etc.  From  these  facts,  upon 
which  Jablonskit  as  long  ago  as  his  time,  and  after  him 
and  copying  from  him  M  e  i  n  e  r  s|  commented,  R  o  s  e  1  - 
1  i  n  i§  has  justly  argued  that  this  list  was  drawn  up  by  one 

*  See  e.  g.  Heeren,  Ideen  Aeg.  S.  426. 

t  Fanth.  Aeg.  Proll.  p.  67  seq.  In  reference  to  these  things  this 
author  says :  Totus  animi  pendeo,  ancepsque  haereo  quodnam  de 
scriptoris  hujus,  aut  diligentia,  aut  peritia,  aut  accuratione,  aut  bona 
denique  fide  judicium  ferre  debeam,  and  therefore  was  in  the  best  v^^ay, 
with  their  help  to  perceive  the  indications  of  the  truth. 

I  Religionsgesch.  der  altesten  Volker,  besonders  der  Aegypter, 
S. 122. 

§  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  12. 

21 


-^ 


242  APPENDIX. 

entirely  unacquainted  with  Egyptian  affairs.  But  when  he 
proceeds  further  :  The  list  cannot  therefore  be  taken  from 
the  books  of  Manet  h  o,  this  therefore  is  well  founded  only 
on  the  supposition  that  R  o  se  1 1  i  n  i's  prejudice  in  favor  of 
Manetho  is  just.  Until  further  proofs  are  adduced,  we  are 
perfectly  satisfied  that  that  which  is  an  argument  against  the 
part  is  also  against  the  whole,  since  every  trace  of  a  later  in- 
terpolation of  this  part,  while  the  whole  existed  without  it,  is 
wanting. 

2.  In  the  notices  of  Manetho  upon  the  Hycsos  preserved 
in  J  o  s  e  p  h  u  s*  it  is  said  of  the  first  king  of  the  Hycsos  :  "But 
since  he  found  in  the  Saitic  nome  a  very  convenient  city,  which 
lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bubastic  channel,"  etc.  This  geo- , 
graphical  designation  involves  an  evident  contradiction.  A 
city  could  not  be  situated  at  the  same  time  in  the  Saitic  nome 
and  east  of  the  Bubastic  arm  of  the  Nile.  For  the  Saitic 
nome  lay  in  the  western  part  of  the  Delta,  the  Bubastic  chan- 
nel on  the  other  hand,  is  the  same  with  the  Pelusiac,  the  most 
eastern  of  all.  Lakemacherf  in  order  to  avoid  this 
difficulty  wishes  for  :  *  in  the  Saitic  nome,'  to  read  :  '  in  the 
Sethroitic  nome.'  So  E  d.  B  e  r  n  h  a  r  d.  This  is  very  well 
if  it  is  only  first  shown  that  Manetho  was  a  native  Egyp- 
tian who  lived  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  In  the 
meantime,  however,  we  intend  to  make  use  of  this  argument 
to  show  the  opposite. 

Others  suppose  that  by  Sais  is  not  meant  the  nome  known 
in  the  west  but  another  much  more  easterly,  commonly  called 
Tanis,  from  which  Herodotus  borrowed  his  designation 
of  Saitic  arm  of  the  Nile,  while  his  other  accounts  have 
reference  to  the  western  Sais.J     But  the  passage  of  H  e  r  o  d- 

*  Contr.  Ap.  I.  14 :  Evgoiv  8s  iv  vo/am  tw  SnCTrj  noXiv  iniytai- 
QoruTTjv,  xfiiiiivjjv  ^h  nqoq  aronoXi]v  tov  Bov^aailtov  noTa^iov 
X.  T.  A. 

f  obs.  Phil.  G.  :vr.. 

X  Mannert.  alt.  Geog.  10.  1.  p.  562. 


MANETHO.  243 

o  t  u  s*  spoken  of,  can  be  of  no  service  to  M  a  n  e  t  h  o.  It  is 
granted  tiiat  it  is  very  probable  that  the  Tanitic  arm  of  the  Nile 
is  called  in  it  the  Saitic  as  even  S  t  r  a  b  of  seems  to  have 
admitted,  who  in  the  words :  "  the  Tanitic  arm  of  the  Nile, 
which  some  call  the  Saitic,"  by  'some'  probably  means  He- 
rodotus. But  the  attempt  to  explain  this  renaming  of  the 
Tanitic  arm  of  the  Nile  by  supposing  that  Tanis  is  called 
Sais,  is  most  improbable.  Either  Herodotus  made  a  mis- 
take in  writing,  or  what  is  more  probable,  he  designates  as 
the  Saitic,  the  arm  of  the  Nile  which  bounds  the  Saitic 
nome  on  the  East.  But  if  Tanis  had  been  called  Sais,  a 
city  over  the  Bubastic  channel  could  not  lie  in  the  Tanitio- 
Saitic  nome.  The  Egyptian  nonies  were  small,  and  one  being 
on  this  side  of  the  Bubastic  Nile-arm,  could  the  less  extend 
over  it,  since  the  land  on  the  two  sides  of  this  channel  was 
carefully  divided,  and  that  beyond  it  was  not  considered  as  be- 
longing to  Egypt  proper. I  Besides  we  knoAv  the  names  of  the 
nomes  in  the  region  without  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the  Nile.§ 
Let  any  one  judge  whether  so  great  ignorance  of  the  geog- 
raphy of  his  native  land  can  be  accounted  for  in  a  noble 
Egyptian  of  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus. 

3.  In  the  account  concerning  the  Hycsos  it  is  said:  "But  their 
whole  nation  were  called  Hycsos,  i.  e.  shepherd-kings.  For 
Hyc  signifies  in  the  sacred  tongue,  a  king,  but  Sos  means 
shepherd,  and  shepherds  in  the  common  dialect,  and  from 
these  two  is  the  word  Hycsos  compounded." ||  There  is  no 
where  else   any   trace   found  of  the  co-existence  of  a  sacred 

^  B.  2  c.  17.  t  B.  17.  p.  802. 

:j:  Compare  CliampoUion,  L'Eg.  s.  1.  Phar.  2.  p.  269. 
§  Compare    Cellarius.    Not.    Orbis  Ant.   ed.   Schwarz  II.   p.  709. 
Champollion  2.  p.  277  seq. 

11  ^Ey.cdHio  ds  to  irvfinav  uvtmv  sd^vog  vy.(T(xk,  romo  ds  iaxi. 
^aailus  noijxBveg.  To  yaq  vh  na^  hquv  ylMaaav  ^acrilm  atj^ui- 
ysi,  TO  ^5  acag  7ioiui]v  iaxi,  xal  7T0i,f.iivsg  naia  t)]v  y.oivijv  diaXmiov 
xul  oiTco  avpTiS^sfxspov  ylvsTai  macag. 


244  APPENDIX. 

and  common  dinlect  in  Egypt,  as  is  here  implied.  The  author 
in  his  great  ignorance  of  Egyptian  affairs  puts  in  the  place  of  a 
difference  between  sacred  and  common  writing,  the  difference 
between  the  sacred  and  common  language.  The  unfortunate 
attempt  of  L  a  t  r  o  n  n  e  in  C  h  a  m  p  o  1 1  i  o  n'  s  "Precis"*  to 
justify  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  for  this  distinction  between  the  sacred  and 
common  language  shows  only  to  what  violence  the  prejudice 
in  favor  of  Manetho  leads.  If  we  look  critically  at  this  one 
circumstance,  the  gross  ignorance  of  the  author  which  is  re- 
vealed in  this  expression  in  regard  to  the  Egyptian  language, 
we  shall  have  sufficient  ground  for  freeing  ourselves  from  this 
prejudice.  Moreover  some  suspicion  with  regard  to  the 
author's  knowledge  of  Egyptian  language  arises  also,  from 
the  fact  that  Hyc  which  according  to  one  declaration  must 
mean  king,  and  according  to  another  captive — no  slight  dif- 
ference— is  found  elsewhere  neither  in  the  one  or  the  other 
signification. t 

4.  Manetho  refers  his  notices  as  to  their  original  source, 
to  certain  columns  in  the  Seriadic  land,  engraved  in  the  sa- 
cred dialect,  and  with  sacred  letters  by  Thoth,  the  first 
Hermes,  whose  contents  were  translated  before  the  deluge 
from  the  sacred  dialect  into  the  Greek  language,  and  written 
upon  papyrus,  were  deposited  by  Agathodamon  the 
son  of  the  second  Hermes,  the  father  of  That,  in  the  sanctu- 
aries of  the  temples  of  Egypt. J 

*  p.  407. 

t  "  In  linguae  Copticae  monumentis  omnibus,"  says  Jablonski  Von. 
Aeg.,  Opusc  1.  p.  357,  concerning  Hyc  in  the  sense  of  king,  "quae  ad 
manus  nostras  pervenere,  vocis  istius  vestigia  nulla  occurrunt."  The 
same  autlior  remarks  that  the  meaning  captive  is  just  as  little  capable 
of  proof,  p.  362. 

\  Kx  xbiv  (V  tfi  2Sr]oia8i-Afi  yj]  xsifjsvMV  CTrjXwv  IfQa  cpi](iL  dia~ 
Xixro)  y.al  UQoyQdcpiy.nlg  yQu^if.ia(TL  )tf/({^»xT7]Qi(Tjiiivbn'  vno  0a>& 
70V  TTQMTOv  'JCo/.iov,  xtu  iQfj.r)vfvf^eiab)v  jLifTu  Tov  y.niaxXvafiov  ea 
Tf/5  hqug  di(dsxrov  di;  r7jv  'Mh]vlda  (fojrlp'  ygn^fntatv  isfJoyXv- 
q)ixoiSf  xul  unoii^ivKtiv  iv  ^ijSkoig  vno  TOv^Ayn&odalfiOPog,  vlov 


MANETHO.  245 

The  prominent  doubt  which  arises  here  is,  how  an  Egyp- 
tian of  high  rank  of  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  could 
believe  that  even  in  the  most  remote  antiquity,  there  could 
be  any  necessity  of  Greek  translations  in  his  own  land,  and 
that  these  translations  were  deposited  in  the  archives  of  the 
temples.  Zoega  endeavors  to  avoid  this  doubt,  which  he 
sees  very  much  endangers  the  reputation  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  by 
a  change  of  the  text.  According  to  him,  Manetho  must 
have  written  instead  of:  "  in  the  Greek  language,"  '*  in  the 
common  dialect."*  But  the  change  is  of  little  advantage  to 
Manetho,  for  had  he  written  as  Zoega  supposes  he  did, 
he  would  here  again  merit  the  reproach  of  making  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  sacred  and  common  dialect,  an  error 
which  he  indeed  fell  into  in  another  place.  Further,  the 
change  proposed  is  an  unwarranted  one ;  such  a  one  is  al- 
lowed only  in  a  writer  of  established  reputation.  Finally, 
why  should  the  translation  from  the  sacred  dialect  into  the  com- 
mon one  be  mentioned  ?  It  should  evidently  have  been  speci- 
fied how  the  author  obtained  his  knowledge  of  Greek.  This 
writer  even  claims  for  the  writing  in  its  Greek  form  divine 
authority.  AW  such  attempts  for  the  vindication  of  M  a  n  e- 
t  h  o,  (to  which  also  that  of  H  e  y  n  et  belongs,  who  sets  down 
without  argument  all  of  that  which  S  y  n  c  e  1 1  u  s  copies  from 
the  preface  of  Manetho  as  spurious,)  would  have  been 
spared,  if  the  attention  had  been  directed  not  to  particular 
things  merely,  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  all  which  is  related 
had  been  taken  at  once  into  view. 

toil  dsvTSQOv  "EQfiov,  nuTog  ds  zov  Tax  Iv  roig  advTOig  tSiv  hqav 
Alyvmov.  Syncelli  Chronographia,  p.  40.  ed.  Gear.  t.  1.  p.  72. 
ed.  Bonn. 

*  He  says,  De  Obeliscis,  p.  .S6 :  Scripsisse  Manethonem  ng 
Ti]v  yoiv}]v  cpMvr]v  v,  tig  TVfV  xoiv')]v  diuAsHTOv  quovis  certarem  pig- 
nore :  at  Graecis  compilatoribus  r;  xoivrj  cpcavi}  erat  7]  ekXijvig. 

T  In  der  Gott.  Comm.  Vol.  V.  Hist.  p.  103. 

21* 


246  APPENDIX. 

A  second  suspicion  arises  from  the  mentioning  of  columns 
in  the  Seriadic  land.  A  Jewish  fable  of  a  similarity  which 
cannot  be  mistaken  is  furnished  by  J  o  s  e  p  h  u  s.*  Traditions 
of  certain  Egyptian  columns  are  found  even  at  a  very  early 
period,  but  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  found  in  M  anetho,  it 
is  of  Jewish  origin.  This  is  clear,  since  in  it  as  in  Josephus, 
information  is  given  in  reference  to  the  flood.  On  account 
of  the  impending  flood  they  were  erected.  But  of  the  flood, 
original  Egyptian  tradition  knows  nothing  at  all,  as  generally 
in  all  heathen  antiquity  no  single  reference  to  it  uncon- 
nected with  Jewish  influence  appears,  so  that  it  is  wretch- 
edly uncritical  to  make  use  of  these  heathenish  notices  in 
confirmation  or  deprecation  of  the  Mosaic  history.  Before 
they  are  made  use  of  some  one  account  of  the  deluge  in  heathen 
writers  should  be  referred  to  of  an  earlier  date  than  that  of 
this  composition. 

Now  it  is  granted  that  a  possibility  remains,  even  if  we  al- 
low that  this  tradition  is  of  Jewish  origin,  that  an  Egyptian 
writer  as  early  as  the  time  of  Ptol.  Philadelphus  could  avail 
himself  of  this,  but  it  is  not  probable;  for  the  whole  Jewish 
system  of  tradition  of  this  kind  appears  to  belong  specially 
to  a  later  time. 

That  the  Seriadic  land  is  Utopian  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
all  attempts  to  discover  it  have  been  vain  ;  f  but  upon  this  we 
do  not  wish  to  lay  any  great  stress.  It  serves,  however,  for  the 
counteraction  of  the  current  prepossession  in  favor  of  the 
true  historical  character  of  Manetho's  work,  but  it  does 
not  make  it  entirely  impossible  that  the  author  lived  as  early 
as  the  reign  of  Philadelphus.     So  the  Hycsos-city  Avaris  is 

*  Arch.  1.  c.  2.  §3:  Oi  ccno  Zijd^ov  aocpiav  ii]v  nsQi  t«  ovqu- 
via  xat,  ii]v  TOvtMv  dumoa^riaiv  ijTtvorjffocv  '  vtisq  ds  lov  fj,}]  di()iq)V- 
ynv  xovq  (xvO Qiimovq  la  tvQijfAEva,  TXQoeiQTjxoiog  afpaviiJ^ov^ d8a(.iov 

XbiV  oLiav  taKxO^ai aT)]Xag  dm  noLi]aufxsvoi,  ii]v  juiv  in  nllf- 

&0V,  7i}v  d  iii{t(tv  ex  Xli>o)P,  «/<g)OTt'<jMig  fpt/Qaipav  la  svgr}fiiva 
fiivsi  d'  ii/Qi  Tov  ddgo  naza  ^/jv  liiv  ^iQiuda. 

t  Compare  Zoega,  p.  30. 


MANETHO.  247 

just  as  vainly  sought  as  the  Seriadic  Land.  Champollion* 
following  the  example  of  L  a  r  c  h  e  r,  seeks  to  show  that  Ava- 
ris  is  Heroopolis  ;  but  he  does  this  merely  by  a  comparison 
of  what  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  says  of  the  position  of  Avaris,  with  the 
situation  of  Heroopolis.  No  other  writer  mentions  an  Egyp- 
tian city  Avaris  ;  and  that  the  author  had  need  to  fear  the 
control  of  geographers  he  himself  betrays,  since  he  takes  re- 
fuge in  a  region  not  very  accessible  to  them,  and  hints  that 
the  name  Avaris  belongs  not  to  common  language,  but  bears 
a  higher  character,  has  a  mystical  significance. "t 

5.  The  striking  coincidence  of  that  which  Ma  net  ho 
relates  concerning  the  Jews,  with  the  declarations  of  such 
writers  as  C  harem  on,  Lysimachus,  Apion,  and 
Apollonius  Molo,  who  all  of  them  lived  under  the  Ro- 
man dominion,  render  it  improbable  that  he  wrote  as  early  as 
the  age  of  Philadelphus.  If  the  parallel  narratives  are  com- 
pared with  each  other,  it  will  be  found  improbable  if  not  di- 
rectly impossible  that  some  centuries  should  elapse  between 
the  times  of  their  composition  ;  and  the  more  so  as  the  traces 
of  Egypto-Greek  persecution  against  Jews  upon  which  these 
accounts  are  founded,  cannot  be  referred  to  in  the  period  of 
the  Ptolemies,  and  especially  of  the  more  ancient  Ptolemies. 
This  persecution,  on  the  contrary,  meets  us  first  in  the  time 
of  the  Romans.  For  the  third  book  of  the  Maccabees  evi- 
dently belongs  to  this  latter  period,  and  transfers  its  circum- 
stances to  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies.J      Moreover  this  per- 

*  Eg.s.l.  Phar.  2.  p.  87seq. 

t  In  one  passage,  naXovfitvtjv  and  rivog  a^xaiag  &6oloyiag  ^vaqtv. 
In  a  second,  ton  di  ?}  noXh  nard  xtjv  d'£oXoyiav  avojd'£Vj  Tvcpojviog. 

X  Dahne,  (Darstellung  der  Jiidisch-Alex.  Religionsphil.  I.  S.  25,) 
it  is  allowed,  supposes  that  the  most  important  facts  of  the  narrative 
must  be  considered  as  worthy  of  confidence ;  but  the  opposite  was 
long  ago  proved  ;  and  besides,  it  is  perfectly  clear  to  every  one  who 
reads  the  book,  and  has  sufficient  knowledge  of  tiie  world  not  to  start 
with  the  presumption  that  everything  which  claims  to  be  history,  must 
t  least  have  a  historical  basis. 


248  APPENDIX. 

secution  against  the  Jews,  in  the  time  of  the  earlier  Ptole- 
mies, is  not  only  not  demonstrable  from  history,  but  it  could 
scarcely  have  existence  in  it.  P  h  i  1  o  and  Josephus  both 
show,  in  numerous  passages,  that  the  head-quarters  of  this 
persecution,  was  Alexandria ;  that  it  grew  out  of  the  jealousy 
which  the  Egyptian  inhabitants  of  that  place  cherished  against 
those  of  Jewish  origin  ;  and  that  the  Egyptians  drew  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  into  a  partnership  of  their  aversion.* 
Now  the  circumstances  which  called  forth  the  persecution  in 
Alexandria,  did  not  exist  there  at  all  under  the  first  Ptolemies. 
The  inhabitants  consisted  originally  only  of  Greeks  and  Jews. 
Upon  the  latter,  both  Alexander  and  Ptolemy  Lagus  be- 
stowed great  favors,  and  administered  justice  to  them  equally 
with  the  Greeks.f  Not  until  later,  did  the  Egyptians  come 
in  among  them  by  degrees ;  and  were,  as  intruders,  sub- 
jected to  great  degradation  ;  as,  for  example,  they  were  pun- 
ished for  crime  in  a  far  more  severe  manner  than  the  Greeks 
and  the  Jews  who  were  on  the  same  footing  with  the  Greeks.f 
The  position  of  these  Egyptian  inhabitants  of  Alexandria 
were  so  low,  that  many  entirely  abjured  their  Egyptian  origin. 
Thus  Josephus§  relates  of  Apion,  that  he  was  born  in  an 
oasis  of  Egypt ;  but,  ashamed  of  his  Egyptian  origin,  he 
pretended  to  be  an  Alexandrian.  The  most  important  pas- 
sage concerning  this  whole  matter,  and  that  which  best  serves 

*  In  proof  of  this,  see  Pliilo  in  Flaccum,  p.  969,  71,  76,  De  Lega- 
tione  ad  Cajnm,  p.  1615,  16,  and  Josephus  contr.  Apion,  B.  2.  c.  3, 
may  be  compared. 

t  Josephus  contr.  Ap.  2.  4.  Arch.  B.  12   1. 

§  Compare  Pliilo  in  Flaccum,  p.  976  :  Tojv  juaatlyojv  elal 
dia(pOQ«l  diuavAoi^iivai  naza  ti]v  noliv  HQog  tu  iwv  Tvmsa&aL 
fxdlovTwv  a^icoixuxa  '  zoig  fih  yaQ  Al/vnilovg  kiSQaig  alxl^ea^at 
aftfi^e^rjKE,  xal  n()og  eti^oiv,  tovg  de'AXE^uvdgsocg  anu&aig  xal  vno 
(T 71  a d-rjcpoQ 0)1'  'Ah^updQtMv.  Among  those  called  Alexandrians, 
the  Jevv.s  belonir,  according  to  hitn.  They  were  beaten  with 
the  ihv&£()i(t}ii^(xig  and  noXnixMTSoaig  fiuan^iv. 

§  Contr.  Ap.  2.  3. 


MANETHO.  249 

for  the  confirmation  of  our  hypothesis,  namely,  that  first  in 
later  times  the  causes  were  in  operation  which  called  forth 
such  representations  as  those  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  is  found  in  J  o- 
s  e  p  h  u  s,  and  is  extant  only  in  Latin.* 

These  objections  lie  against  the  hypothesis  that  Mane- 
t  ho,  as  a  native  Egyptian  of  high  rank,  wrote  under  Ptolemy 
Philadelplius,  and  show  that  he  or  the  individual  who  appro- 
priated his  name,  (which  was  perhaps  an  honored  one,)  be- 
longed to  a  far  later  period.  In  favor  of  the  correctness  of 
the  commonly-received  opinion,  we  have  only  the  author's 
own  testimony.  But  how  such  authority  can  be  allowed  for 
this  purpose,  is  inconceivable,  when  it  is  considered,  that  the 
same  individual  who  claims  to  have  lived  in  the  time  of  Ptol- 
emy Philadelphus,  and  professes  to  be  an  Egyptian  high- 
priest,  at  the  same  time  assures  us  that  his  original  sources 
of  information  are  those  fabulous  columns,  and  his  secondary 
source  the  contents  of  a  Greek  translation  made  even  before 
the  flood  and  laid  up  in  the  archives  of  the  temple.  How  can 
any  confidence  be  placed  in  the  word  of  a  man  who  is  con- 
victed of  such  palpable  falsehoods  in  so  important  a  mat- 
ter ? 

The  suspicion  of  deception  increases  when  we  recollect 


*  Contr.  Ap.  2.  6.  "  Any  one  who  searches,"  he  says,  '•'  will  find 
that  such  citizens  as  Apion  were  the  authors  of  sedition  in  Alexan- 
dria."— Donee  enim  Graeci  fuere  et  Macedones  hanc  civitalem  te- 
nentes,  nullam  seditionem  adversus  nos  gessere,  sed  antiquis  cessere 
solennitatibus.  Cum  vero  multitudo  Aegyptiorum  crevisset  inter  eos, 
propter  confusiones  temporum,  etiam  hoc  opus  semper  est  additum. 
Nostrum  vero  genus  permansit  purum.  Ipsi  igitur  raolestiae  hujus 
fuere  principium,  nequaquam  populo  Macedonicam  habente  constan- 
tiam,  neque  prudentiam  Graecam,  sed  cunctis  scilicet  utentibus  malis 
moribus  Aegyptiorum  et  antiquis  inimicitias  adversum  nos  exercenti- 
bus.  E  diverso  namque  factum  est,  quod  nobis  improperare  praesu- 
munt.  Nam  cum  plurimi  eorurn  non  opportune  jus  ejus  civitatis  ob- 
tineant,  peregrinos  vocant  eos,  qui  hoc  privilegium  ad  omnes  impe- 
trasse  noscuntur.  Nam  Aegyptiis  neque  regum  quisquam  videtur  jus 
civitatis  fuisse  largitus  neque  nunc  quilibet  imperatorum. 


250  APPENDIX. 

that  we  strictly  have  not  to  do  with  a  writer  of  history,  but 
with  one  of  that  class  least  of  all  to  be  trusted,  among  whom 
literary  deception  has  always  been  the  order  of  the  day.  With 
an  almost  natural  confusion  it  is  now  very  commonly  over- 
looked, although  perfectly  clear,  that  Manetho's  work  has 
not  properly  a  historical  design  ;  that  it  was  not  his  main  ob- 
ject to  give  history,  but  this  rather  serves  him  as  a  foundation 
for  his  peculiar  structure.  According  to  his  own  declaration 
in  his  letter  to  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  his  writings  comprise 
the  answer  to  the  question  put  to  him  by  Ptolemy,  (I  will 
leave  it  for  others  to  inquire  whether  this  question  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  manner  of  thinking  of  a  king,)  upon  the 
things  which  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  world,  nsgl  jmv  (asX- 
kovTdDv  Tw  xocTfAO)  yl/veff&ai,  as  also  the  inscriptions  on  those 
pillars  mentioned  by  J  o  s  e  p  h  u  s,  of  which  those  of  M  a  n  e- 
tho  are  a  copy,  were  not  of  a  historical  but  theological 
character;  they  were  said  to  preserve  the  hidden  wisdom  of 
the  fathers  for  their  posterity.  Whence,  we  simply  remark, 
M  a  n  e  t  h  o  took  that  which  was  of  subordinate  importance 
to  him,  his  history,  we  have  not  so  much  as  his  declaration  ; 
he  has  not  himself  even  referred  back  to  the  temple  archives 
as  his  friends  and  admirers  assert,  though  they  do  it  inconsid- 
erately,— since  Josephus,  setting  them  the  example  of 
transferring  that  which  belongs  to  prediction  to  history,  fur- 
nishes then  no  confirmation  in  this  error.  If  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  had 
done  this,  it  would  not  contribute  at  all  to  the  advantage  of 
his  credibility,  but  would  rather  be  a  detriment  to  it.  For 
how  could  the  assertion  that  he  drew  from  the  archives,  ac- 
cording to  the  miserable  and  current  manner,  so  little  to  the 
honor  of  our  critical  age,  be  isolated  ;  how  could  it  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  absurdities  with  which  this  assertion  is  so 
closely  united  ?  How  inappropriate  this  is,  Zoegafelt;  he 
thinks  it  necessary  to  defend  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  against  the  opinion, 
that  he  aflirms  that  he  received  his  historical  facts  from  the 
same  source  from  which  his  prophecies  are  derived.  He  could, 


MANETHO.  251 

Z  o  e  g  a  supposes,  have  very  probably  received  his  history  from 
other  fountains.*  This  we  willingly  grant ;  but  must  yet  re- 
mark, that  we  could  not  expect  that  great  care  and  consci- 
entiousness would  be  exercised  in  the  choice  and  use  of  his 
historical  sources  by  one  who,  in  the  specification  of  those 
from  which  his  prophecies  are  taken,  so  plainly  shows  himself 
a  vain  boaster,  and  one  who,  since  his  object,  '  ex  professo,' 
is  to  retail  prophecies,  is  a  boaster  by  profession. 

Further,  the  suspicion  of  deception  is  also  intimated  in 
that  it  is  this  same  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  at  whose  sugges- 
tion the  book  is  said  to  be  composed ;  precisely  the  one  among 
all  princes  to  whom  it  would  first  occur  to  an  impostor  to 
dedicate  his  work.  The  passages  of  ancient  authors  which 
show,  that  the  exertions  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  with  regard 
to  learning,  and  especially  in  reference  to  the  increase  of  the 
Alexandrian  Library,  were  very  much  praised,  are  found 
collected  in  Hod yt  and  Stahr.|  The  many  unautheuti- 
cated  stories  which  are  fastened  upon  the  fact  that  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  took  a  strong  interest  in  learning,  go  so  far  that 
he  at  last  was  even  made  out  to  be  an  author. §  Ptolemy 
has  by  degrees  become  expressly  a  mythic  personage. 

Let  not  the  striking  analogy,  which,  as  soon  as  we  recog- 
nize in  the  claims  of  Manetho  mere  pretension,  we  have 
in  the  writings  of  the  Pseudo-Aristeas,  be  overlooked.  As 
Manetho  professes  to  be  a  high-priest  of  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  so  Aristeas  claims  to  be  a  noble  officer  at 
the  court  of  the  same  king.  There  is  certainly  nothing  more 
absurd  than  to  attempt,  in  the  manner  of  a  base  Juste  milieu 
in  criticism,  to  obtain  from  the  work  of  Aristeas  also  a 

*  "  Etiam  ad  hoc  atteiK^endum,"  he  says,  "  quod  ipse  ex  Hermeti- 
cis  stelis  futurorum  coguitiouem  se  hausisse  scribit,  non  regum  histo- 
rias,  quas  ex  ahis  monumentis  congerere  potuit. 

t  De  Biblicorum  Textibus  originalibus. 

t  Aristotelia,  Th.  2.  S.  61  ff.  §  Stahr,  S.  63. 


252  APPENDIX. 

share  of  historical  truth ;  as,  for  example,  P  a  r  t  h  e  y*  sup- 
poses that  A  r  i  s  t  e  a  s'  statement  in  regard  to  the  seventy- 
two  learned  men  is  to  be  reduced  to  a  half  or  a  fourth !  The 
only  proper  course  is,  on  the  other  hand,  to  seek  to  destroy 
the  last  thread  of  the  tissue  of  lies,  and  acknowledge  that  the 
circumstance,  that  the  translation  of  the  Books  of  Moses 
was  made  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Ptolemy  Philadel- 
phus,  cannot  be  considered  as  even  furnishing  a  historical 
basis  for  the  fiction.  The  whole  reference  in  which  the 
Alexandrian  translation  is  placed  to  the  Egyptian  king, 
belongs  to  the  vanity  of  the  Jews,  which  has  called  forth  so 
many  similar  fictions.  The  choice  of  Philadelphus  in  pre- 
ference to  others  was  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  name  of  this 
king  had  become  classical  for  the  time  in  this  department, 
and  the  Alexandrian  translation  is  the  simple  product  of 
the  wants  of  the  Jews  at  Alexandria.  What  P  a  r  t  h  e  yt  says : 
*'  As  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  influenced  by  his  curiosity  in  re- 
ference to  historical  subjects  in  general,  summoned  seventy- 
two  interpreters  for  the  translation  of  the  Jewish  religious 
books,  so  he  caused  the  ancient  Egyptian  chronicles  to  be 
translated  by  the  learned  high-priest  and  temple-scribe,  M  a- 
netho,  from  the  hieroglyphic  writing  into  Greek,"  is  true, 
but  in  an  entirely  different  sense  from  that  of  the  author, 
namely,  in  that  he  did  the  one  as  little  as  the  other ;  but 
M  a  n  e  t  h  o  and  Aristeas  in  every  respect  a  '  par  nobile 
fratrum,'  for  similar  reasons  had  recourse  to  him. 

If  any  doubt  yet  remains  in  regard  to  rejecting  the  testi- 
mony which  one  so  confirmed  in  falsehood  as  Manetho 
gives  of  himself,  it  may  yet  be  considered,  that  we  have  under 
the  name  of  Manetho  also  another  work,  the  Apotelesma- 
tica,  and  that  the  author  of  this  work  also,  who  in  the  declara- 
tion of  his  sources  of  information  agreesj    so  accurately  with 


*  Das  Alexandrinische  Museum,  Berlin  1838,  S.  58.       t  Page  165. 

t  He  asserts  in  B.  5.  v.  1,  y,  that  he  has  derivpcl  his  information  i^ 

ufivTOjv I'eQoJv  ^i'(i?MV^  y.at  y.QrffunDV  ottjIojv^  rig  7]v(jaT0  TrdvaocfO?  EQfMijq. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  253 

our  author,  dedicates  his  book  to  Ptolemy  Philadelphus, 
and  makes  mention  of  his  wife  Arsinoe,  but  this  statement  of 
.his  sources  is  now  ahnost  unanimously  declared  to  be  false, 
and  indeed  on  much  more  trivial  grounds  than  those  on  which 
we  have  relied  in  the  rejection  of  his  testimony  for  himself, 
in  the  work  under  discussion. "* 

The  testimony  of  other  writers  which  substantiates  M  a  n  e- 
t  h  o's  account  of  himself  is  not  in  existence.  There  is  no 
mention  made  of  him  by  any  writer  who  preceded  the  time 
of  the  Roman  dominion.  It  is  of  little  consequence,  that  one 
so  credulous  and  uncritical,  and  so  entirely  governed  by  in- 
terest as  J  osep  hu  s,  and  who  even  transfers!  writers  evi- 
dently Jewish  to  the  gentiles,  gives  credit  to  his  testimony  of 
himself,  and  does  not  even  express  a  suspicion  of  forgery. 
It  is  only  necessary  that  the  object  of  the  quotations  which 
Josephus  gives  from  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  be  taken  into  view. 
Greek  writers  have  called  in  question  the  antiquity  of  the 
Jewish  nation.  Josephus  wishes  to  confute  their  testi- 
mony from  the  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians,  nations  who  are 
much  more  worthy  of  confidence  in  historical  matters  than 
the  Greeks.  It  is  plain  that  it  was  for  the  interest  of  Jose- 
ph u  s  to  magnify  the  trustworthiness  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o. 

But  special  importance  is  attached  to  the  contents  of  the 
work,  which  are  said  to  perfectly  substantiate  the  claim  which 
the  author  makes  for  the  honorable  origin  of  the  work.  In 
praise  of  its  excellence,  those  especially  are  exhausted  who 
have  employed  themselves  in  modern  times  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Egyptian  chronology  and  history  from  her  native  mon- 
uments.    But  it  appears  to  us,  that  these  commendations  arise 

*  So  according  to  Zoega,  p.  255,  the  author  of  the  Apotelesmatica  is 
a  "  man  minime  Aegyptius,  Manethonis  nomen  sat  impudenter  men- 
tituf,"  and  forsooth  because  he  "  omnia  ea,  quae  ad  funerum  curam 
pertinent  Aegyptiis  patrio  ritu  sanctissime  obeunda,  adspernatur." 
Compare  also  Meiners,  1.  c.  S.  122  ff. 

t  See,  e.  g.  Contr,  Ap.  1.  23. 
22 


254  APPENDIX, 

far  less  from  the  thing  itself,  than  from  the  certainly  very 
natural  and  pardonable  desire,  in  so  doubtful  an  undertaking, 
to  have  at  least  some  one  firm  hold,  a  more  certain  frame- 
w^ork  on  which  individual  facts,  as  they  appear,  can  rest,  a 
test  for  the  correctness  of  things  which  are  of  doubtful  ac- 
ceptance. Nevertheless,  this  favor,  shown  to  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  rests 
only  on  the  king's  names  which  are  found.  But  if  we  here 
leave  general  assertions,  and  direct  our  attention  to  par- 
ticulars, in  order  to  see  how  far  these  encomiums  have 
received  confirmation  from  the  latest  discoveries,  it  will  be 
perceived  that  they  are  not  so  important  as  might  properly 
have  been  expected  after  such  eulogies,  even  if  we  receive 
the  data  without  question,  from  those  who,  with  regard  to 
them,  are  somewhat  exposed  to  suspicion,  since  they  start 
with  the  necessity  of  admitting  an  agreement  between  M  a- 
n  e  t  h  o  and  the  monuments. 

Manetho  begins  with  the  rule  of  the  gods  and  demi- 
gods. It  is  evident  of  itself,  that  the  monuments  here  furnish 
no  confirmation.  But  after  such  a  beginning  it  is  improba- 
ble from  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  he,  as  soon  as  he  brings 
the  first  human  kings  upon  the  stage,  will  change  forthwith 
from  a  writer  of  fiction  or  romance  to  a  historian.  Thus 
our  very  well  grounded  suspicion  is  found  on  closer  exami- 
nation to  be  confirmed  in  a  remarkable  manner.  The  most 
zealous  friends  of  Manetho  must  acknowledge,  that  for 
this  whole  first  fifteen  dynasties,  the  monuments  furnish  al- 
most entirely  nothing,  and  that  little  can  be  adduced  from 
them  in  confutation  of  the  assumption,  that  Manetho  has 
done  as  Syncellus*  did,  who  from  his  own  invention  gave 
names  to  the  kings  of  the  twentieth  dynasty,  which  were 
omitted  by  M  an et  ho.  W  il  k  i  n  sont  says:  whether  any 
dependence  can  be  placed  on  the  names  and  number  of  the 
kings  of  those  dynasties  is  a  matter  of  great  doubt.     The 

*  FageOl.  i  Vol.  I.  p.  18. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  255 

monuments  indeed  furnish  no  assistance  in  this  portion  of 
early  history,  except  perhaps  in  so  far  as  the  names  in  the 
later  dynasties  of  Manet  ho  are  similar  to  those  on  the 
monuments.  Ro  sell  in  i*  says:  "Shall  the  whole  epoch 
which  precedes  the  so  called  sixteenth  dynasty  be  considered 
fabulous?  I  venture  neither  to  affirm  or  deny  it."  This 
author  then  summons  everything  in  order  to  furnish  at  least 
some  confirmation  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  from  the  monuments  of  this 
period.  What  he  adduces  is  as  follows:  The  name  of  the 
man  who,  according  to  Manet  ho,  heads  the  succession  of 
human  rulers  is  found  on  the  walls  of  the  Ramesseion,  in  the 
representation  of  a  religious  train  in  which  the  statues  of  the 
predecessor  of  the  king  are  carried  in  procession  by  the 
priests.  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  thinks  he  has  discovered  the  Suphis 
of  M  a n e t h o,  the  Cheops  of  Herodotus,  in  a  tomb  in 
the  pyramids.  His  inscription,  according  to  this  author,  reads : 
Suten  Oveb  Sciuso,  which  he  translates:  il  paro  sacerdote  o 
propheta  Sciuso.t  Likewise  in  the  tombs  of  Geezeh,  R  o  s  e  1- 
1  i  n  i  affirms  that  he  has  found  the  name  Sensciuf  This  is 
said  to  be  the  second  Suphis  of  M  an  etho,  the  Sensuphis 
or  Sensaophis  of  Eratosthenes,  which  according  to  R  o- 
sellini  must  signify  the  brother  of  Suphis.  Besides  also 
there  are  three  other  king's  names,  but  those  which  corres- 
pond are  not  found  in  the  lists  of  Manet ho.|  The  dis- 
connected names  of  three  kings  then  is  all  that  the  monu- 
ments in  this  period  furnish  for  the  confirmation  of  the  lists 
of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  or  rather  all  they  seem  to  furnish.     It  is  true, 

*  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  111. 

t  Ros.  p.  126  seq.  Compare  II.  1.  p.  36.  III.  1.  p.  2  seq.  The 
same  name  written  Koufou  has  more  recently  been  discovered  upon 
the  stones  of  the  great  pyramid  at  Memphis.  Compare  Lepsius  in 
the  "  Eclaircissemens  sur  le  cercuil  du  roi  Mycerinus  traduits  de 
r  Anglais  et  accompagnes  de  notes  par  Lenormant,  Paris  1839, 
p.  44  seq. 

;  Ros.  Vol.  1.  1.  p.  132. 


256  APPENDIX. 

RoseUini  affirms  that  he  has  discovered  a  considerable 
number  of  other  names  of  kings,  which  he  from  uncertain 
conjecture  places  in  the  fifteenth  dynasty ;  but  their  names 
have  no  relationship  to  those  of  M  anetho,  and  these  sup- 
posed facts  can  therefore  furnish  no  verification  of  his  list.* 

R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  it  seeks  to  avert  from  his  favorite  the  hazardous 
consequences  which  result  from  this  silence  of  the  monu- 
ments,— the  "great  void  beyond  the  sixteenth  dynasty,  where 
only  a  few  and  disconnected  fragments  of  earlier  cultivation 
and  civilization  appear  as  little  oases  in  the  desert," — by  the 
hypothesis  that  the  Hycsos  have  destroyed  all  earlier  monu- 
ments !  Consequently  the  Hycsos  alone  must  have  accom- 
plished what  a  whole  succession  of  conquerors  for  thousands 
of  years  together  have  not  been  able  to  do,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  absurdity  of  the  attempt  to  support  another  fable  by 
that  of  the  Hycsos.  These  Hycsos  must  always  be  such  as 
to  answer  the  purposes  of  Rosellini,  a  diligent  scholar, 
and  in  his  own  province  highly  worthy  of  respect,  but  one 
who  has,  in  historical  criticism,  too  little  discrimination. 
In  their  pretended  second  irruption  having  become  civilized, 
they  must  have  left  untouched  all  the  monuments  which  were 
erected  by  the  monarchs  of  the  eighteenth  dynasty  after  their 
first  expulsion  !  f 

The  Tablet  of  Abydos  also  appears  against  the  credibility 
of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  in  the  first  fifteen  dynasties.  The  first  eleven 
dynasties  of  M  anetho  comprised  192  kings,  the  thirteenth 
alone  sixty.     In  the  Tablet  of  Abydos,  on  the  contrary,  the 


*  Since  the  appearance  of  Rosellini 's  work,  the  name  Menkare  is 
supposed  to  have  been  deciphered  upon  a  coffin  discovered  in  the 
third  p3'iamid  of  Memphis,  and  it  is  said  to  be  the  same  as  the  Mcn- 
cheres,  who  according  to  Manetho  was  tlie  fourth  king  of  the  fourth 
Memphitic  dynasty,  and  the  Mycerinus  of  Herodotus,  who  accordmg 
to  him  built  this  same  pyramid.  Compare  the  work  of  Lenormant, 
above  referred  to,  p.  11  spq. 

t  I.  1.  p.  119.  II.  1.  p.  75.  t  Ros.  M.S.  320. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  257 

succession  of  kings  which  forms  the  eighteenth  dynasty  be- 
gins with  number  forty-one.  Rosellini  has  here  also  a 
ready  means  of  escape.  He  supposes  that  the  Tablet  refers 
merely  to  the  Theban  kings.  But  this  is  assumed  merely 
from  his  regard  to  M  anetho.  The  succession  of  his  pre- 
decessors in  authority  over  Egypt  appears  on  this  monument 
at  the  request  of  Remeses  the  Third. 

Finally,  if  we  consider  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  as  worthy  of  confidence 
in  the  first  fifteen  dynasties,  we  assume  for  the  Egyptian  king- 
dom, a  duration  which  is  opposed  to  the  probability,  the 
analogy  and  the  chronology  of  the  Pentateuch,  which,  judge 
of  it  as  we  will,  is  yet  even  more  worthy  of  faith  than  a  M  a- 
n  e  t  h  o.  According  to  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  it  is  4750  years  from 
Menes  until  the  Persian  invasion,  without  reckoning  the 
fourteenth  dynasty.*  The  hypothesis,  that  the  dynasties  are 
contemporaneous,  by  which  it  was  formerly  sought  after  the 
example  of  E  usebius,  to  reconcile  M  a n e t h o  with  the 
Mosaic  chronology,  may  now,  since  the  researches  of  P 1  a  t  h, 
and  especially  of  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i,t  be  considered  as  entirely 
obsolete,  although  it  is  still  asserted  with  a  tone  of  so  much 
confidence  in  historical  writings,  which  are  very  much  read. 
The  sacred  writings  recognize  everywhere  only  one  king 
over  all  Egypt.  Just  so,  not  only  Herodotus,  Diodo- 
r  u  s  and  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  himself,  but  also,  what  is  of  more 
importance,  the  monuments,  which  indeed  by  their  magni- 
tude and  splendor  are  witnesses  against  an  origin  from  the 
petty  kings  of  small  territories.  They  bear  upon  them  the 
title :  Kings  of  the  world,  Lords  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt. 
The  names  of  the  Pharaohs  appear  dispersed  over  all  of 
Egypt,  etc. 

It  is  true,  that  in  the  later  dynasties,  the  verdict  is  more 
favorable  to  M  anetho.  Several  of  his  names  here  have 
received  confirmation  from  the  monuments.     But  if  we  de- 

*  Wilk.  Vol.  L  p.  ]8.  t  J.  1.  p.  98  seq. 

22* 


•258  APPENDIX. 

scend  to  particular  cases,  it  appears  that  here  also  there  is 
very  much  wanting  to  a  complete  harmony  between  him  and 
the  monuments,  even  according  to  the  statements  of  his 
friends,  whom  we  must  follow  in  that  which  respects  the 
monuments.  How  great  the  differences  are,  is  shown  by  the 
comparison  of  the  statements  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  and  the  data 
obtained  from  the  monuments,  in  reference  to  the  eighteenth 
dynasty,  in  Rosellini.*  Manet  ho  has,  for  example, 
made  out  of  the  one  Usirei  or  Menephtha  I,  the  two  Aken- 
•cheres;  to  Armais,  Armes  or  Armesses,  corresponding  to 
the  Remeses  of  the  inscriptions,  he  allows  only  four  years, 
whilst  the  fourteenth  year  of  his  reign  is  represented  on  the 
monuments.t  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  ascribes  to  the  Great  Remeses 
(III),  according  to  him  Rammeses,  a  reign  of  one  year  and 
four  months,  while  on  the  monuments  his  sixty-second  year 
appears.  If  Sesostris  is  really,  as  Champollion,  Rosel- 
lini and  others  suppose,  identical  with  this  Remeses  III, 
the  error  of  Manetho,  who  places  Sesostris  as  early  as 
the  twelfth  dynasty,  is  palpable.  The  monuments  furnish 
no  additional  evidence  for  the  whole  account  of  Armais= 
Danaus  of  Manetho,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  Rosel- 
lini'swantof  skill  in  criticism,  that  he  receives  this  ac- 
count without  argument,  as  true  and  original,  and  only  ex- 
amines it  to  designate  the  time  of  its  occurrence,!  although 
it  is  perfectly  clear,  that  this  tradition  is  as  far  from  being 
an  original  Egyptian  one,  as  that  concerning  Polybius  and 
Proteus,  with  regard  to  which,  however,  even  Rosellini's 
patience  forsakes  him,  and  he  cannot  avoid  declaring,^ 
that  all  the  accounts  concerning  them  have  had  their  oriorin 
in  the  words  of  H  o  m  e  r. 

With  how  little  confidence  one  can  rely  even  in  those  later 
times  upon  king's  lists  of  Manetho,  such  declarations  as 

*  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  286.  t  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  255. 

t  Comp.  r.  2.  S.  1  scq.  §  1.2.  p.  27. 


THE  HYCSOS  OP  MANETHO.  259 

these  show :  Sethus  was  also  called  Egyptus,  and  from  him 
Egypt  received  this  name,  an  assertion  which  has  a  worthy 
counterpart  in  that  of  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s  :  One  of  the  immediate  suc- 
cessors of  Proteus  was  Nilus,  from  whom  the  river  which  was 
before  called  Egyptus,  took  the  name  Nilus.  The  names  of 
the  kings  of  the  twentieth  dynasty  are  entirely  omitted  by 
M  an  e  t  h  o,  a  circumstance  which  can  by  no  means  be  ex- 
plained, as  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i*  has  attempted  to  do,  by  supposing 
that  these  kings  had  accomplished  nothing  worthy  of  consid- 
eration, but  by  the  fact  that,  even  for  this  later  time,  his 
sources  of  information  were  defective. 

But  that  which  has  been  furnished  from  investigations  upon 
the  monuments  which  is  really  in  favor  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  does 
not  indeed  compel  us  to  place  him  in  a  proportionally  early 
time,  or  to  ascribe  to  him  circumstances  by  which  he  was 
specially  favored  in  the  use  of  sources  of  information.  Even 
if  he  wrote  in  the  beginning  of  the  period  of  the  Roman 
dominion,  he  could  out  of  the  designations  of  Egyptian 
kings  which  were  in  circulation,  easily  obtain  a  certain  num- 
ber of  the  actual  names  of  kings  to  which  his  whole  real  stock 
is  finally  reduced. 

The  question  whether  Manetho  was  an  Egyptian  or  a 
Greek  can  scarcely  be  answered.  The  Egyptian  and  Anti- 
jewish  interest  which  he  exhibited  is  not  sufficient  to  prove 
his  Egyptian  origin.  For  many  Greek  writers  appropriated 
to  themselves  Egyptian  sympathies  and  antipathies;  as,  for 
example,  Apollonius  Molo  was  a  Greek. t  Manetho' s 
ignorance  of  Egyptian  religion,  language  and  geography  is 

*I.  2.  p.  34. 

t  Josephus,  c.  Apion  ,  says  expressly  :  tojv  §t  tig  ij/uag  ^XaaqvifiKLV 
ijQ^avTO  filv  Aiyvitxiov '  ^ovX6/.i6vot  6^  fusi'voig  riveg  yaQiiSO'd'aij 
itaQarqinsiv  iiisybiqrioav  T7]v  aktjd'iiav .  Similar  descriptions  are 
found  in  other  places,  Menander  e,  g.  was  a  Greek  from  Ephesup, 
and  yet  he  wrote  Phoenician  history  with  the  spirit  and  interest  of  a 
Phoenician. 


260  APPENDIX. 

just  as  little  decisive  against  his  Egyptian  descent.  There 
was  in  later  times  a  multitude  of  subjects  among  this  people 
who  had  entirely  abandoned  their  nationality,  with  the  excep- 
tion only  of  their  national  arrogance  and  their  antipathies ; 
as  for  example,  Apion  was  an  individual  of  such  character,  since 
he  despised  the  Jews  on  account  of  circumcision  and  because 
they  ate  no  swine's  flesh,  without  thinking  that  this  reproach 
could  properly  be  made  only  by  a  Greek,  not  by  an  Egyptian 
who  thus  together  with  the  Jews  contemned  his  own  nation.* 
Now,  from  one  of  these  classes  of  subjects  must  Manet  ho 
also  have  been.  Yet  he  hardly  lived  in  Egypt.  Several  of 
the  errors  attributed  to  him  are  of  such  a  kind  that  they  could 
scarcely  have  been  made  even  by  a  Greek  who  lived  in  that 
country. 


2.  The  Hycsos  of  Manetho. 
In  scarcely  any  enquiry  has  criticism  taken  so  decided  a 
retrogressive  movement  as  in  that  concerning  the  Hycsos 
of  Manetho.  The  subject  was  considered  by  P  e  r  i  z  o- 
niu  s  as  long  ago  as  his  time,  at  a  right  point  of  view,  al- 
though it  is  acknowledged  that  he  was  wrong  in  a  not  unim- 
portant particular,  which  will  soon  be  pointed  out.  This 
author  denied  that  the  history  of  the  Hycsos  had  its  founda- 
tion originally  in  Egypt,  and  he  explained  it  as  a  transforma- 
tion of  that  which  the  books  of  Moses  relate  of  Joseph  and 
the  exodus  of  Israelites,  undertaken  with  a  design  to  favor  the 
Egyptians  and  injure  the  Jews.t     In  the  footsteps  of  Per  i- 

*  Jos.  c.  Ap.  2.  c  13. 

t  The  result  of  his  impartial  and  thorough  enquiry,  he  gives  on  page 
336  seq,  of  the  Orig.  Aegypt :  Satis  ni  fallor  liquere  videtur,  quando 
sacras  cum  hisce  comparamus  literas,  Aegyptios,  quia  gloriosissimam 
non  modo  Josephi,  sed  ct  Mosis  et  Israelitarum  ex  Aegypto  exeuntium 
historiam  profile ri  nolebant,  finxisse  Axlsam  et  vilem  et  doformem  Juda- 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  261 

zonius  trod  Thorlacius  in  the  little  treatise:  "  De 
Hycsosorum  Abari,"*  which  has  been  but  little  known,  and 
which  throughout  bears  the  marks  of  a  youthful  attempt,  but 
yet  is  written  with  a  spirit  of  investigation  and  with  talent 
for  historical  criticism.  He  brings  the  account  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o 
concerning  the  Hycsos  in  connection  with  the  translation  of 
the  books  of  Moses  into  Greek, f  and  the  consequent  diffusion 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  ancient  crime  and  disgrace  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  he  considers  this  account  as  an  attempt  to 
throw  the  infamy  of  these  things  off  from  the  Egyptians 
and  devolve  it  upon  the  Israelites.! 

This  view  stood  in  so  manifest  opposition  to  the  position 
which  has  been  taken  in  modern  times  concerning  M  a  n  e- 

icae  gentis  originem,  suis  ex  terris,  sed  cum  scabie  et  lepra  repetendam. 
Verum  autem  Israelitarum  in  Aegypto  agentium  et  inde  exeuntium 
historiam  variis  multisqae  falsis  circumstantiis  ita  contaminasse  et 
adulterasse,  ut  agaosci  vix  posset,  et  sic  ad  alios  earn  homines  tuto 
retulisse.  Further  p.  339  :  Since  Herodotus  and  Diodorus  are  entirely 
silent  concerning  the  Hycsos,  videtur  sane  Manetho  historiam  eorum 
suum  ad  arbitrium  primus  concinasse,  falsis  et  fabulosis  circumstantiis 
adulteratam,  ut  ita  Judaeorum  antiquitatera  et  res  ab  eorum  majoribus 
id  Aegj'pto  gestas — penitus  obscuraret  et  extingueret. 

*  Copenhagen  1794.  t  p.  16  and  17. 

t  Hunc  antiquum  gentis  pudorem  Graecis  saltem,  Aegypti  tunc 
dominis  celare  volentes  auctores  Aegyptiaci,  narrandi  rationes  sic 
instituerunt,  ut  famosi  istius  et  cum  tanta  Aegyptiorum  ignominia, 
tantis  cladibus  conjuncti  Israelitarum  exitus  narrationi  Mosaicae  indi- 
genis  parum  honorificae,  haberent  quod  opponerent.  Ideoque  falsa 
veris  miscendo  id  unice  egerunt,  ut  funesti  eventus  culpa  omnis  et 
opprobrium  ab  Aegyptis  ad  Israelitas  transferretur.  Hoc  consilium 
Manethoni,  Chaeremoni  et  Lysimacho  fuisse  res  ipsa  loquitur,  ut  ad 
communem  metam  pergentes,  quod  fere  mendaces  solent,  suam 
quisque  viam  sit  ingressus.  In  the  opinion  of  this  author,  the 
account  of  Manetho  is,  anilis  Mosaicae  de  Israelitarum  in  Aeg.  rebus 
narrationis  larva  et  imago,  qua  affictis  subdole  commentis,  inauditam 
Aegyptiorum  in  Israelitas  crudelitatem,  quae  in  scriptis  Mosaicis  vivis 
coloribus  depingitur,  quodamodo  tegere  vel  excusare  Manetho  volebat: 
hinc  saevus  Hycsosorum  dominatus  regesqxie  sex  in  subsidium  cusi. 


262  APPENDIX. 

tho  that  it  was  necessary  to  abandon  it.  If  for  example, 
we  suppose  with  Rosellini,*  that  if  Manet  ho  were 
handed  down  to  us  unmutilated,  Egyptian  affairs  even  those 
most  uncertain  from  distance  of  time,  would  be  as  well 
known  as  those  of  Greece  and  Rome;  if  we  in  our  blind- 
ness go  so  far  with  him.  relying  upon  the  pretended  witness 
of  Manet  ho  for  himself,  a?  to  believe  that  this  author 
has  derived  his  facts  from  the  authentic  documents  of  histor- 
ical science;  if  we  place  to  the  account  of  the  compiler  all  of 
that  which  even  in  the  lists  of  the  kings  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  opposes 
this  opinion  ;t  then  we  must  naturally  consider  everything 
which  is  in  opposition  to  true  history,  so  soon  as  the  account 
of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  is  applied  to  the  Israelites,  as  proof  that  he- 
could  not  have  reference  to  them,  we  must  go  even  so  far 
as  with  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i|  to  reproach  the  critical  obtuseness  of 
those  who  maintain  the  identity  of  the  Jews  and  the  Hycsos  ! 
Truly  this  view  may  be  considered  as  one  which  is  commonly 
promulgated  and  believed,  and  we  should  not  hope  to  obtain 
the  renewal  of  a  favorable  hearing,  if  we  did  not  believe,  that 
by  the  foregoing  inquiry  concerning  Ma  net  ho,  we  have 
given  a  powerful  blow  to  the  prejudice  which  has  contributed 
to  the  rejection  of  the  view  held  by  us.  We  make  only 
one  additional  remark,  namely,  that  the  current  favorable 
opinion  in  regard  to  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  even  then  also  receives  a 
check  through  his  account  of  the  Hycsos,  if  any  other  people 
than  the  Israelites  are  understood  by  them.  Applied  to  any 
nation  which  we  can  call  to  mind,  the  account  comprises 
everywhere  such  palpable  ftilsehoods,  internal  contradictions 
and  improbabilities,  as  it  has  already  been  shown  in  part 
byJosephus  and  yet  more  thoroughly  by  Perizonius 
and  T  h  o  r  1  a  c  i  u  s — to  whom  we  must  refer  since  we  have  no 
desire  to  enter  on  the  discussion  anew — that  it  is  impossible 

*  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  5.  t  Compare  Ros.  I.  1.  p.  2  and  b. 

I  Vol.  1.  1.  p.  175. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  263 

to  consider  it  as  coming  from  a  good  historian.  The  admirers 
of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  since  they  are  ignorant  of  these  circumstances 
which  are  yet  so  perfectly  evident,  can  scarcely  be  acquitted 
from  a  species  of  literary  dishonesty  occasioned  by  their  blind 
predilection  for  him. 

We  will  now  collect  the  reasons  which  prove,  that  the  Hyc- 
sos  can  be  no  other  than  the  Israelites,  that  no  older  native 
sources  are  the  foundation  of  the  account  ofManetho,  that 
this  account,  on  the  contrary,  is  merely  a  transformation  of 
the  historical  facts  which  have  reference  to  the  Jews,  so  as 
to  favor  the  national  vanity  of  the  Egyptians. 

1.  The  more  ancient  defenders  of  the  reference  to  the  Is- 
raelites have  themselves,  in  regard  to  one  important  point, 
surpassed  their  antagonists.  Namely,  they  have  allowed  that 
M  a  n  e  t  h  o  himself  distinguished  the  shepherds  from  the  Jews. 
The  shepherds,  relates  Manet  ho,  long  before  the  time 
of  the  Jews  were  expelled  from  Egypt.  But  the  latter  people 
having  originated  in  Egypt  were,  long  after  the  shepherds, 
banished  in  consequence  of  a  leprosy  which  polluted  their 
bodies.*  But  the  matter  was  not  allowed  to  end  here.  It 
must  be  supposed  that  a  report  which  originally  had  refer- 
ence to  the  Jews,  was  in  later  times  erroneously  transferred 
to  another  people.  But  by  this  acknowledgement,  one  of 
their  strongest  supports  was  torn  away.  Is  the  contrary  true, 
can  it  shown  that  it  did  not  occur  to  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  himself  that 
the  Hycsos  and  the  Israelites  were  a  different  people,  then  the 
friends  of  Manetho  find  themselves  in  a  dilemma  ;  they  can- 
not defend  without  at  the  same  time  casting  reproach  upon 
him.  If  the  Hycsos  are  the  Israelites,  he  can  lay  no  further 
claim  to  the  reputation  of  a  good  historian,  since  he  relates 
things  of  them  which  are  not  at  all  applicable  to  the  Israel- 
ites. Are  they  any  other  nation,  then  he  commits  a  gross 
mistake,  in  that  he  identified  them  with  the  Israelites.    That 

*  Perizonius,  p.  329. 


264  APPENDIX. 

M  a  n  e  t  h  o  did  actually  intend  to  designate  the  Israelites  by 
the  term  Hycsos,  it  did  not  occur  to  Jose  p  h  us  to  doubt. 
He  was  too  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  whole  point  of  the 
narrative  lay  in  its  application  to  the  Jews,  to  consider  it  nec- 
essary to  state  expressly  this  reference. 

The  whole  contest  concerning  the  Hycsos  owes  its  origin 
merely  to  the  supposition  of  J  o  s  e  p  h  u  s  that  this  reference 
would  be  perfectly  understood  from  the  thing  itself  Could 
he  have  foreseen  this  contest,  it  would  have  been  an  easy  mat- 
ter for  him  to  have  prevented  it,  by  adducing  the  direct  proof 
that  M  an  et  ho  must  have  had  reference  to  them  and  to  no 
other  nation. — Let  it  not  be  said,  in  opposition  to  this,  that 
the  contents  of  the  narrative  itself  disprove  its  application  to. 
the  Jews.  If  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  understood  the  leprous  persons  to 
be  the  Jews,  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  suppose  that  the 
Hycsos,  who  were  different  from  them,  were  also  the  Jews. 
M  a  n  e  t  h  o's  view  is  evidently  this  :  the  Jews  are  composed 
of  a  twofold  element — a  barbarian  (in  reference  to  the  origin, 
of  which  he  is  in  doubt,)  and  an  Egyptian.  The  foreigners, 
the  Hycsos,  go,  after  their  first  expulsion,  to  Palestine,  and 
build  Jerusalem.  They  return  there,  after  their  second  ex- 
pulsion, with  the  native  Egyptians,  the  lepers.  They  were 
pursued,  by  Amenophis,  even  to  the  borders  of  Syria. 

We  leave  it  undecided  whether  the  tradition  of  such  a  com- 
position of  the  Jews  is  founded  on  the  passages  of  the  Penta- 
teuch which  designate  under  the  names  nij? ,  rabble,  and 
Tl^DODN  ,  populace,  an  Egyptian  multitude  who  accompanied 
the  Israelites  in  their  Exodus,*  or  whether  the  national  van- 
ity of  the  Egyptians  availed  itself  originally  of  two  methods 
of  calumniating  the  original  stock  of  the  Israelites,  and  then 
Manet  ho  later,  or  perhaps  even  the  tradition  itself  joined 
together  these  things  which  at  first  existed  independently,  and 
in  a  manner  exclusive  of  each  other.  The  latter  appears  to 
us  as  the  more  probable  supposition. 

*  Compare  Ex.  12:  38  and  Num.  11:  4. 


THE    HYCSOS    OF    MANETHO.  265 

How  little  we  can  infer  from  the  fact  that  the  unclean 
persons  are  the  Jews  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o,  that  the  Hycsos  conse- 
quently are  not  Jews,  is  evident  from  the  analogy  of  other 
writers  who  also  allow  that  the  Jews  are  made  up  of  such  a 
twofold  element.  A  comparison  of  these  writers  is  the  more 
valuable  since  we  have  already  shown  that  the  hypothesis 
that  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  lived  some  hundred  years  earlier  than  they, 
is  without  foundation.  While  Lysimachus  has  only 
half  of  the  falsehood,  that  concerning  the  lepers,  but  not  that 
with  regard  to  the  Hycsos,  Charemon  has  the  whole.t 
This  author  represents  the  Jews  as  composed  of  two  elements, 
the  '  impure  people,'  and  the  strangers,  who  are  found  on  the 
borders  of  Egypt  and  are  called  in  to  their  aid  by  the  former. 
The  nation  formed  by  the  combination  of  these  two  races,  he 
designates  expressly  as  Jews.  Even  he  does  not  know  how 
to  characterize  more  definitely  this  foreign  stock.  The  com- 
parison with  Manet  ho  is  also  interesting,  inasmuch  as 
it  shows  how  uncertain  and  changing  the  Egyptian  traditions 
were,  as  from  their  origin  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  The 
main  point,  the  attempt  to  bring  disgrace  upon  the  Jews,  is 
common  to  both  ;  but  all  except  some  of  the  main  features,  is 
different.  Even  Josephus  shows  this,  and  also  how  un- 
worthy of  confidence  the  Egyptian  tradition  is,  from  the  con- 
tradictions between  Chareraon  and  M  a  n  e  t  h  o. 

Diodorus  Siculus  has  recourse  to  Egyptian  tradi- 
tion concerning  the  origin  of  the  Jews,  in  two  passages.  In 
Eel.  34.  l.t  he  represents  the  friends  of  Antiochus  Pius  or 
Sidetes,  as  saying  of  the  Jews  :  They  are,  even  as  to  origin, 
contemptible;  since  they,  on  account  of  the  leprosy,  as  hated 
of  the  gods,  were  expelled  from  all  of  Egypt.  Here,  as  uni- 
versally where  the  lepers  are  spoken  of,  the  Jews  are  repre- 
sented as  native  Egyptians.     On  the  other  hand,  in  the  second 

*  In  Josephus,  c.  Ap.  1.  34,  32.  t  T.  2.  5.  24.  ed.  Wesseling. 

23 


266  APPENDIX, 

passage  in  Eel.  40. 1.*  he  relates :  There  was  in  Egypt,  in 
ancient  times,  inconsequence  of  the  anger  of  the  gods,  a  new 
disease  visited  upon  the  strangers,  whose  different  worship 
had  diminished  the  honors  of  the  native  gods.  The  latter, 
therefore,  decreed  to  banish  the  strangers.  The  most  distin- 
guished and  powerful  of  them  banded  together  and  betook 
themselves  to  Greece  and  some  of  the  other  neighboring  re- 
gions, under  honored  leaders,  of  whom  Danaus  and  Cadmus 
were  the  most  conspicuous.  But  the  great  multitude  of  them 
proceeded  to  the  country  now  called  Judea,  which  was  then  an 
unbroken  waste.  This  colony  was  conducted  by  Moses,  etc. 
— That  which  appears  in  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  and  Charemon,in 
connection,  is  seen  here  divided.  In  the  one  passage  there 
is  merely  the  one;  in  the  other,  the  other  element  of  the  tra- 
dition. Now  is  it  probable  that  D  i  o  d  o  r  u  s  separated  that 
which  was  originally  united,  when  perhaps  he  even  intended 
to  have  the  one  expression  completed  by  means  of  the  other : 
or  that  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  and  Charemon  united  that  which  was 
originally  separate  1  The  looseness  of  connection  and  the 
artificialness  of  the  separation,  seem  to  us  to  favor  the  latter 
opinion. 

2.  From  our  view  of  the  subject,  the  circumstance  that 
Herodotus  gives  just  as  little  information  of  the  Hycsos 
as  of  the  lepers,  is  easily  explained,  since  certainly  before 
the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  and  (if  our  inquiry  upon  M  a  n  e  t  h  o 
is  well  founded)  also  before  the  time  of  the  Roman  dominion, 
no  traces  of  these  notices  can  be  found.  The  condition  of 
their  existence  was  the  acquaintance  with  the  declarations  of 
the  Pentateuch  concerning  the  ancient  relations  of  the  Jews 
to  the  Egyptians,  which  at  any  rate  could  not  have  been  un- 
til the  period  after  Alexander.  On  the  other  hand,  from  the 
contrary  view,  the  fact  cannot  be  explained.  The  argument 
from  the  silence  of  the  monuments,  is  of  more  weight,  the  more 
important  the  events  concerned.     Can  it  be  supposed  that 


*  T.  2.  p.542seq. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  267 

H  e  r  o  d  o  t  u  s,  in  all  his  intercourse  with  the  Egyptian  priests, 
did  not  hear  anything  of  the  dominion  of  the  Hycsos,  which 
extended  through  a  succession  of  centuries,  and  especially 
not  one  word  of  their  glorious  expulsion,  if  these  events  were 
already  known  at  that  time,  as  they  must  have  been  if  M  a  - 
n  et  h  o  received  his  facts  from  native  Egyptian  sources  ? 

3.  Not  the  least  trace  is  found  in  the  whole  Pentateuch  of  a 
foreign  dominion  over  Egypt.  The  credibility  of  the  Penta- 
teuch cannot  be  asserted  without  denying  the  reality  of  a 
government  of  the  Hycsos.  The  proper  name  of  the  national 
ruler  of  Egypt,  Pharaoh,  meets  us  everywhere, — in  the  time 
of  Abraham,  Joseph,  and  Moses.  The  national  hatred  of 
the  Egyptians  to  shepherds,  presents  itself  before  us  in  the 
period  described  in  Genesis  and  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus. 
That  which  is  adduced  in  support  of  this  position,  or  indeed 
in  proof  that  the  Pentateuch  bears  witness  to  the  existence  of 
the  Hycsos,  according  to  the  current  opinion  is  of  little  force. 
R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i*  supposes  that  the  Hycsos  adopted  the  language 
of  Egypt.  By  this,  the  fact  is  explained  that  the  king  bears 
the  appellation  of  Pharaoh,  and  gives  to  Joseph  a  title  of 
Egyptian  etymology.  We  will  not  deny  that  such  an  adop- 
tion of  the  Egyptian  language  by  the  Hycsos  is  possible  ;  but 
so  long  as  their  existence  stands  on  so  frail  a  foundation  as  it 
now  does,  it  will  always  remain  certain,  that  the  universal 
prevalence  of  the  national  title  of  the  king  furnishes  an  argu- 
ment against  them. 

R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i  finds  a  positive  proof  for  the  existence  of  the 
Hycsos  in  Gen.  46:  31  seq.  Joseph  there  gives  direction  to 
his  brothers  to  make  it  understood  by  the  king  of  Egypt  that 
they  are  shepherds.  With  a  native  king  this  circumstance 
could  not  have  been  for  their  advantage,  but  on  the  contrary 
decidedly  to  their  disadvantage.  It  must  then  be  inferred  from 
this  passage  that  the  emigration  of  the  family  of  Jacob  took 
place  under  the  dominion  of  the  Hycsos  who  in  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i'  s 

^  Vol.  I.  1.  p.  183  seq. 


268  APPENDIX. 

opinion  were  a  tribe  of  Scythian  nomades.  But,  the  fact  that 
they  are  shepherds  is  not  indeed  intended  to  serve  as  a  recom- 
mendation of  the  children  of  Israel  to  Pharaoh,  but  it  is 
designed  to  cause  him,  understanding  that  they  cannot  dwell 
in  the  midst  of  his  people,  to  appoint  them  a  dwelling- 
place  in  the  province  of  Goshen,  which  was  especially  adapted 
to  the  rearing  of  cattle.  They  are  directed  to  say  that  they 
are  shepherds,  and  have  been  from  the  beginning,  so  that  they 
cannot  think  of  a  change  in  their  occupation  :  that  they  may 
dwell  in  the  land  of  Goshen.  According  to  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i'  s 
theory  it  must  mean  :  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  What  the  sons 
of  Jacob  are  directed  to  tell  Pharaoh  was,  according  to  this 
author's  manner  of  understanding  it,  not  sufficient  to  cause 
their  residence  specifically  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  and  yet  this 
only  was  brought  into  the  account,  not  in  general  their  abode 
in  Egypt.  But  the  passage  not  merely  does  not  prove  what 
according  to  R  o  sel  1  i  n  i  it  is  intended  to  prove,  it  proves 
the  very  opposite.  That  the  Israelites  were  shepherds,  is  no 
reason,  to  a  Hycsos-king,  for  a  separate  abode. 

R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i*  derives  a  second  positive  proof  from  Exodus 
chap.  i.  The  appeal  to  the  mentioning  of  the  neio  king,  in 
verse  8,  is  common  to  him  with  most  of  the  defenders  of  the 
fable  of  the  Hycsos.  In  his  view,  as  he  believes  that  he  has 
proved  that  in  the  time  of  Joseph  the  Hycsos-kings  ruled  Egypt, 
Amenoph  the  First,  is  naturally  the  new  king.  He  even 
makes  verse  10  subserve  his  purpose.  *'  Who,"  he  says,t 
"could  the  enemies  be  with  whom  the  Israelites  might  unite 
and  fight  against  the  Egyptians,  except  the  shepherds,  who 
expelled  but  not  destroyed,  were  always  threatening  to  make 
an  irruption  upon  the  smiling  valleys  of  the  Delta."  But 
the  mentioning  of  a  new  king  has  no  reference  at  all  to  a 
change  from  a  foreign  dominion  to  a  national  one,  or  the 
reverse.     The  reason  why  the  king  is  called  new  is  given  in 

»  Vol.  1. 1.  p.  2!>2  scq.  t  Page  294- 


THE  HYCSOS  OF    MANETHO.  269 

the  phrase  following:  "who  knew  not  Joseph."  Disregard 
of  the  service  of  Joseph — only  a  forgetfulness  of  affection  is 
spoken  of— forms  the  point  of  distinction  between  the  new 
king  and  the  old.  So  long  as  Joseph's  services  were  re- 
membered, the  Israelites  were  treated  kindly.  While  the 
king  yet  lived  who  elevated  Joseph  to  the  first  dignity  in  his 
kingdom,  the  house  of  Jacob  received  friendly  treatment  in 
this  kingdom.  That  only  in  this  sense  a  new  king  is  spoken 
of  is  evident  from  the  circumstance  that  the  old  as  well  as 
the  new  king  bore  the  name  of  Pharaoh.  The  same  thing  is 
confirmed  by  the  view  of  the  relation  of  the  children  of  Israel 
to  the  Egyptians,  which  extends  through  the  whole  narrative. 
Were  the  dynasty  under  which  Joseph's  labors  were  perform- 
ed, and  the  children  of  Israel  received,  under  favorable  auspi- 
ces into  the  land,  really  different  from  that  under  which  the 
Israelites  endured  hard  bondage,  the  guilt  of  the  latter  would 
have  been  far  less  than  as  it  appears  in  the  narrative — the 
reproach  of  unthankfulness,  and  the  forgetting  of  former 
obligations  comes  not  upon  them — their  treatment  of  the 
Israelites  appears  to  have  far  more  reason  for  it  and  the  judg- 
ments of  God  in  the  same  degree  less  called  for.  Verse  10 
also  is  not  in  favor  but  opposed  to  the  existence  of  the  Hyc- 
sos.  When  it  is  there  said  :  "  lest  they  multiply  and  it  come 
to  pass,  that,  when  there  falleth  out  any  war,  they  join  also  to 
our  enemies  and  fight  against  us,  and  so  get  them  up  out  of  the 
land,"  it  is  evident,  that  there  was  at  that  time  only  the  gen- 
eral possibility  of  a  war.  The  thought  of  a  particular  enemy 
was  so  far  wanting  that  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n*  finds  far  more  in  this 
passage  than  it  contains,  when  he  infers  from  it  that  at  that 
very  time  the  Egyptians  were  engaged  in  a  war  with  powerful 
enemies.  But  the  general  possibility  of  a  war  can  easily  be 
referred  to  if  we  appoint  the  Hycsos  their  proper  place  in  the 
domain  of  fable.  Egypt  had  at  that  very  time  in  its  imme- 
diate vicinity,  natural  enemies,  people  whose  miserable  exis- 

*  Vol.  1.20,  21. 
23* 


270  APPENDIX. 

lence  in  the  deserts  and  mountains  must  have  awakened  in 
them  a  desire  for  the  spoil  of  the  fruitful  and  cultivated  valley 
of  the  Nile.  Such  were  the  Amalekites,  the  Edoniites  and 
the  Midianites 

4.  From  the  monuments  also,  the  Hycsos-fable  has  not  re- 
ceived the  least  confirmation.  Rosellini*  is  obliged  to 
acknowledge  that  no  trace  of  the  pretended  names  of  the  Hyc- 
sos-kings  appears  there.  He  indeed  thinks  he  has  discovered 
upon  the  monuments  which  belong  to  the  eighteenth  dynastyf 
the  Hycsos  themselves,  as  did  Champollion  before  him, 
as  appears  from  his  letter  to  Blacas.J  But  that  which  is 
found  on  the  monuments  is  nothing  but  the  representation  of 
a  victorious  campaign  of  the  Egyptian  against  barbarian 
nations,  such  as  are  constantly  repeated  under  other  dynasties. 
Of  the  Hycsos  in  particular,  there  are  no  indications.  On 
the  contrary,  where  localities  which  can  be  identified  are  given, 
they  always  belong  to  foreign  countries.  No  trace  is  any- 
where found  of  an  extensive  civil  war  and  victory,  as  that 
against  the  Hycsos  must  have  been,  and  yet  it  can  scarcely  be 
supposed  that  all  vestiges  of  such  a  one  were  obliterated ;  if  it 
ever  occurred,  it  can  scarcely  be  imagined  that  the  monu- 
ments of  the  Hycsos  themselves  should  be  annihilated  even 
to  their  last  remains.  According  to  Manet  ho  their  un- 
limited dominion  continued  over  all  Egypt  511  years.  Then 
followed  a  severe  and  protracted  war.  Finally  under  Alis- 
phragmutosis  even  Avaris  was  besieged.  This  city  was  taken 
by  his  son  Thummosis.  It  would  seem  that  the  Hycsos  had 
time  enough  to  leave  behind  them  some  traces  of  their  exis- 
tence, and  the  well  known  absence  of  such  indications  could 
only  then  be  accounted  for,  from  the  assiduity  of  the  next 
succeeding  dynasties,  in  the  destruction  of  their  works,  if 
their  existence  were  certain  from  other  sources. 

5.  The  narration  of  Manetho  concerning  the  Hycsos 

*  Vol.  I.  J .  p.  183.  t  Ros.  I.  1.  p.  175.  \  S.  57. 


THE  HYCSOS  OP  MANETHO.  271 

presents  so  many  points  of  agreement  with  the  account  in 
the  Pentateuch  concerning  the  Israelites,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  where  there  are  deviations,  the  causes  can  be  so  easily 
pointed  out  by  a  reference  to  the  interest  in  favor  of  Egypt, 
that  we  cannot  doubt  their  identity,  with  the  Hycsos. 
First  of  all,  the  region  from  which  they  both  come,  and  to 
which  they  both  go,  is  the  same.  The  Hycsos,  as  well  as  the 
Israelites,  come  to  Egypt  from  the  regions  of  the  East,  ngog 
avaxoh']v.  After  their  expulsion,  they  go  through  the  desert 
to  Syria,  and  found  there  a  city  which  they  call  Jerusalem, — 
a  circumstance  which  alone  should  be  sufficient  to  make  our 
opponents  see  that  their  course  is  a  wrong  one.  Further, 
the  manner  of  life  is  the  same  to  both.  In  reference  to  the 
Hycsos,  as  well  as  the  Israelites,  it  is  especially  prominent, 
that  they  are  shepherds. 

The  first  king  of  the  Hycsos,  whom  they  raised  from  among 
themselves  to  this  honor,  is  called  Salathis.*  This  not  to 
be  mistaken  Semitish  name  is  alone  sufficient  argument 
against  R  o  s  e  1 1  i  n  i's  Scythians.  It  is  evidently  taken  from 
Gen.  42:  6,  where  it  is  said  :  "  Joseph  was  the  ruler,  t:"'VvLij  , 
over  the  land."  Of  this  first  king,  referring  to  Gen.  47:  20 
— 26,  it  is  said,  he  made  all  Egypt  tributary.!  Then  he 
founded  x'Vvaris,  and  was  specially  employed  in  measuring 
corn, J — a  characteristic  trait  in  which  an  allusion  to  Joseph 
cannot  be  mistaken.  The  narrative  of  the  oppression  and 
cruel  treatment  of  the  Egyptians  by  Salathis  and  his  suc- 
cessor has  its  point  of  digression  in  Gen.  47:  20 :  "  And  Jo- 
seph purchased  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  for  Pharaoh  ;  for  the 
Egyptians  sold  each  one  his  field,  since  the  famine  prevailed 

*  Res.  1.  14:  nsgag  ds  huI  ^acrdm  sva  i^  aviwv  inolrjaav,  o» 
ovojia  ?]v  2J(xXaTig. 

f  Kal  ovTog  ev  rj]  MifAcpidi  xaT^ylvsio,  ti]v  is  livco  xal  nonca 
XOJQttv  dadfioXo/MV. 

X^Ev&ude  nam  ■O^dgsiav  ^]q/£jo,  t«  fisv  aiTOfisTgav  xal 
fiia&ocpQQvav  naQS/ofisvog  x.  x.  X. 


272  APPENDIX. 

over  them,  and  the  whole  land  became  Pharaoh's."  The 
perversions  of  these  facts  are  easily  explained  by  the  effort 
to  transfer  to  the  Egyptians,  the  historical  circumstances 
which  are  given  with  reference  to  the  Israelites,  and  conse- 
quently to  remove  the  disgrace  from  the  latter  and  devolve  it 
upon  the  former.  The  reproach  of  unjust  oppression  and  cruel 
abuse,  which  according  to  history  belonged  to  the  Egyptians, 
must  be  attached  to  the  Israelites. 

6.  The  view  given  by  us  also  has  analogy  for  its  support. 
The  Egyptians  from  national  vanity  loved  very  much  to  ap- 
propriate to  themselves  the  accounts  of  other  nations,  with 
reference  to  facts  which  had  any  relation  to  Egypt;  and 
having  transformed  them  so  as  to  favor  themselves,  they 
were  accustomed  to  pass  off  the  borrowed  treasure  in  its  as- 
sumed mould,  as  originally  Egyptian.  If  we  seek  first  for  other 
cases  of  such  employment  of  Hebrew  material,  Mane  the 
himself  certainly  furnishes  them.  The  tradition  which  is  found 
in  him,  and  also  elsewhere  widely  diffused,*  concerning  the 
leprosy  of  the  Jews,  was  evidently  founded  on  the  minute 
Mosaic  precepts  in  reference  to  this  disease,  in  Lev.  chapters 
xiii.  and  xiv., — precepts  which  have  at  all  times  given  abun- 
dant occasion  for  derision  to  evil-minded  persons.f  What 
M  a  n  e  t  h  o  relates  further  of  the  desire  of  Amunophis  to  see 
the  gods,  appears  to  be  transferred  from  Moses  to  him,  and 
copied  from  the  well  known  narrative  in  the  Pentateuch. 
When  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  calls  Moses,  who  according  to  him  must 
have  belonged  to  the  Egyptian  element  of  the  Jews,   a  He- 

*  Compare  Perizonius,  p.  333  ff. 

t  How  the  tradition  might  arise  from  them  will  be  easily  under- 
stood, when  that  is  compared  which  Sonnini,  "  Voyage  dans  la  haute 
et  basse  Egypte,"  3.  p.  126,  says  in  reference  to  the  leprosy  of 
houses  and  garments:  Ces  maladies  des  choses  inanim6es,  qui  servai- 
ent  uniquemenl  k  former  les  Juifs  aux  details  de  la  proprete,  ont  dis- 
paru  de  1' Orient  avcc  le  pcuple  sale,  pour  Icquel  ils  avaient  etc  im- 
aginees. 


THE  HYCSOS  OP  MANETHO.  273 

liopolite,  (a  proceeding  characteristic  of  his  whole  course; 
national  vanity  is  not  satisfied  with  the  humiliation  of  its  op- 
ponents, it  will  besides  claim  for  itself  whatever  is  distin- 
guished among  them,)  Thorlacius*  seeks  the  first  rea- 
son of  this  declaration  from  Gen.  41:  45,  where  Joseph  is 
said  to  have  married  the  daughter  of  the  priest  of  Heliopolis. 
The  confounding  of  Moses  with  Joseph  implied  here,  is  the 
less  remarkable  since  C  h  a  r  e  m  o  n  is  in  a  direct  road  to  the 
same  thing  when  he  makes  them  contemporaries,  and  asserts 
that  the  uuclean  persons  were  removed  from  Egypt  under 
the  guidance  of  both.t 

Lysimachus  relates  of  the  unclean  persons,  that  after 
they  had  been  thrust  out  into  the  desert  by  the  king,  and 
night  came  on,  they  kindled  fires  and  lights  for  the  purpose 
of  protection. J  Any  one  sees  at  once,  that  this  is  no  other 
than  the  explanation  of  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  pillar  of 
cloud  and  fire,  which  is  most  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
the  natural  world  ;  the  original  Egyptian  narrative  is  clothed 
in  the  fitting  garb  of  one  of  Mosaic  origin.  It  would  be  a 
strange  mistaking  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  to  seek  for  any- 
thing better  in  a  writer  who  relates  that  the  city  founded  by 
the  unclean  persons  was  first  called  Hierosyla,  the  city  of 
temple-robbers  and  defilers  of  sanctuaries,  but  afterwards  this 
name  was  changed  to  Hierosolyma, — words  which  betray  to 
us  the  whole  tendency  of  these  writers,  and  show  that  we 
have  to  do  not  with  historians  but  with  polemists,  and  indeed 
those  of  the  lowest  sort.  Josephus  knows  right  well  how 
to  use  such  passages.^     He  never  comes  to  a  thorough  pro- 

*1.  c.p.  116. 

xal  TovTov  hQO/Qa}i(.iaTia.  Al/vmLa  ds  avjoXg  ovo^axa  uvai. 
Tw  /u£v  Mcovafi  Tiai&sv,  tw  8s  'ibmrjnb)  IIsTmrffp. 

X  In  Josephus  c.  Ap.  I.  34:  Nvxrog  ^'  intysvofiivrjg  nvg  xa 
Xv/vovg  xaiaavTag  q)vX(XTt£LV  savTOvg. 

§  He  says,  e.  g.   concerning  the  one  under  discussion,  §  35 


274  APPENDIX. 

cedure  for  a  fundamental  exposure  of  literary  imposture, 
since  it  is  for  his  interest  that  the  exposure  should  not  fully 
ensue.  Pure  love  of  truth  lies  far  from  him.  He  allows  as 
authority  whomever  he  can  use,  be  he  ever  so  worthless. 

Apion  relies  for  what  he  says  of  Moses  upon  the  oldest 
Egyptians  as  his  vouchers.*  But  it  is  only  necessary  to  ex- 
amine his  narrative  to  be  convinced  that  even  he  received  his 
facts  only  from  Jewish  accounts,  which  he  perverted  at  his 
pleasure.  Whence  else  than  immediately  or  mediately,  (the 
latter  more  probably  in  all  the  writers  of  this  class,)  from  the 
Pentateuch  does  he  derive  his  information,  when  he  relates, 
for  example,  that  Moses  ascended  the  mountain  between 
Egypt  and  Arabia,  which  is  called  Sinai,  and  remained  con- . 
cealed  there  forty  days,  and  afterwards  he  descended  thence 
and  gave  the  law  to  the  Jews.f 

But  not  alone  by  the  Egyptians  was  the  original  possession 
of  the  Israelites  basely  stolen  and  after  an  easy  transformation 
proudly  exhibited  to  view  by  its  new  possessors,  as  if  inherited 
from  their  ancestors ;  others  also  sought,  in  the  abundance  of 
the] Jews,  help  for  their  own  poverty.  The  Chaldean  Berosus, 
for  example,  pretended  that  he  obtained  from  the  most  ancient 
records  of  his  nation,  the  history  which  he  gave  of  the  deluge, 
of  the  ark  in  which  Noah  was  saved,  of  its  resting  on  the 
highest  point  of  the  Armenian  mountains,  etc.|  But  since 
nothing  of  the  kind  is  found  in  heathen  records  of  the  times 
before  Alexander,  at  which  time  the  Jews  were  still  shut  out 

o  ds  ysvvtxlog  V710  noXXiig  tov  XotdoQsIp  axQnalag  ol  avrrixsv,  oti 
ItQoavXslv  ov  xara  rrjv  avii}v  (p(uv7}v  ^lovdvuoL  rdlg  'EXXr^aiv  ovo- 

*  'Jig  i]xovaa  nagu  twv  nQsa^VTBQcov  twv  Alyvnimv.)  c.  Ap.  2.  2. 

f  Movai]v  elg  to  /ufT«|u  jijg  AlyvJiiov  yal  jrig  ^A^a^iag  oqog^ 
o  HOtXuiui  SlvaLOv  ocva/SurTa  tJHSQaig  TsaaaQaxovTa  xQvq>&rjvat, 
xaxel&sv  x«Ta/5avT«  dovvai  loig^Iovdaioig  jovg  vo^ovg. 

t  Josephus,  contr.  Ap.  1.  19. 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  275 

from  intercourse  with  the  world  ;  since,  further,  these  notices 
coincide  too  nearly  with  the  declarations  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures to  allow  the  possibility  that  they  could  have  been  de- 
rived from  independent  tradition,  the  assertion  of  Berosus 
in  reference  to  his  sources  for  the  primitive  age,  (as  respects 
later  times  he  communicates  also  independent  notices,)  are  to 
be  taken  as  a  bare  pretence. 

In  this  same  category  belongs  also  the  account  of  D  i  u  s  , 
which  he  pretends  to  have  derived  from  ancient  Phoenician 
sources,  concerning  the  contest  with  problems  between  Hi- 
ram and  Solomon,*  where  the  fact  at  the  foundation  is  evi- 
dently of  Jewish  origin,  augmented  with  paltry  additions 
which  owe  their  existence  to  the  national  vanity  of  the  Tyri- 
ans.  Solomon,  it  is  related,  sent  problems  to  Hiram  and  re- 
ceived others  from  him  upon  the  condition  that  he  who  could 
not  solve  the  problems  proposed  to  him,  should  pay  money  to 
him  who  solved  them.  Hiram,  failing  to  solve  his  problems, 
was  obliged  as  penalty  to  pay  a  large  sum.  Finally,  however, 
a  man  of  Tyre,  Abdemon,  solved  these  problems  and  pro- 
posed others.  Since  Solomon  could  not  solve  the  latter,  he 
was  obliged  to  pay  back  a  large  amount  of  money  to  Hiram. 

The  Jews,  on  their  part,  did  not  allow  themselves  to  be 
found  idle,  and  there  was,  between  them  and  the  Gentiles  an 
emulation  in  historical  forgery,  which  must  fill  one  who  has 
first  found  the  right  position,  with  disgust  at  this  whole  spe- 
cies of  literature,  the  remnant  of  which  is  handed  down  to  us, 
mostly  by  Josephus,  especially  in  his  books  against  Apion, 
and  by  Eusebius  in  his  *  Preparatio  Evangelica.'  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  be  cautious  enough  here.  Suspicion  is  the  legiti- 
mate rule  of  the  critic,  and  all  accommodation  is  uncritical. 
Nothing  was  more  frequent  than  for  the  Jews  to  assume  the 
garb  of  Gentiles  in  order  in  this  disguise  to  effectually  weaken 
the  calumniations  of  the  Gentiles,  to  magnify  the  antiquity 
and  greatness  of  their  nation,  from  the  apparent  testimony  of 

*  Jos.  c.  Ap.  1.  17. 


276  APPENDIX. 

their  enemies,  and  to  confirm  the  credibility  of  their  sacred 
books  by  pretended  independent  heathen  tradition.* 

How  heathen  fraud  directly  called  forth  the  same  thing 
among  Jews,  we  will  show  by  a  single  particularly  striking 
example.  Artapanust  relates  that,  according  to  the  ac- 
count of  the  Memphites,  Moses,  when  he  passed  the  Red  Sea, 
waited  for  low  water  ;  but  it  is  entirely  otherwise,  according 
to  the  Heliopolites.  They  recognize  the  miraculous  in  the  af- 
fair. Evidently  the  envy  of  the  Egyptians  had  called  forth  the 
explanation  of  that  which,  on  the  authority  of  the  sacred 
books  of  the  Jews,  was  current  concerning  the  passage  of  the 
Red  sea,  making  it  merely  the  result  of  the  common  laws  of 
nature.  Of  this  event  and  the  circumstances  connected  with, 
it,  the  Egyptians  (a  people  who  have  as  little  genius  for  his- 
tory as  the  Indians)  possessed  no  original,  native  information. 
This  explanation,  which  accounts  for  the  facts  from  natural 
phenomena,  they  gave  not  as  such,  but  put  it  into  the  form 
of  a  parallel  tradition  of  the  Memphites  which  was  inde- 
pendent of  the  Jewish  narrative.  The  masked  Jew  now 
opposes  to  the  pretended  authority  of  the  Memphites,  the 
equally  assumed  testimony  of  the  Heliopolites. 

We  return  after  this  digression.  The  Egyptians  did  not 
make  use  of  Hebrew  material  alone.  With  equal  impudence, 
and  even  earlier,  they  appropriated  to  themselves  also  that 
which  belonged  to  the  Greeks.  Heyne  expressly  shows 
this,  appealing,  for  an  example,  to  the  story  of  Proteus  and 
Helen. t     We  will  examine,  a  little  more  closely,  the  Egyptian 

*  The  notices  in  Valckanaer,  De  Aristobulo  Judaeo,  p.  17  seq.  may 
be  compared. 

fin  Eusebius,  IX.c.27. 

i  L.  c.  pp.  108,  127:  Inoleveret  Aegyptiis  adeo  ilia  intcrpretatio 
antiquitatis  suae  ex  Graecis  literis,  ut  sub  Ptolemaeis  et  Romanis  vix 
aliam  ullam  nossent.  Pro  exemplis  sint  narrationes  de  Proteo  et  de 
Helena,  in  quibus  et  hominum  illorum  vanitas,  popularibus  suis  glo- 


THE  HYCSOS  OF  MANETHO.  277 

narrative  of  Helen,  in  Herodotus,*  since  it  furnishes  for 
the  account  of  Manet  ho  concerninir  the  Hycsos,  accord- 
ing to  our  manner  of  understanding  it,  a  very  remarkable 
parallel.  We  premise  that  W  el  k  erf  recognizes  nothing 
further  in  it  than  a  transformation  of  material  originally 
purely  Greek,  so  as  to  gratify  the  national  vanity  of  the  Egyp- 
tians— a  view  which  Bahr  vainly  opposes  with  the  intention  of 
bringing  about  a  base  accommodation.  Her  od  otu  s,  the 
good-natured  admirer  of  Egyptian  wisdom,  asks  his  priests 
exactly  how  the  matter  stood  with  reference  to  Helen,  imply- 
ing that  they  must  surely  have  the  most  certain  knowledge  upon 
the  subject,  and  consequently  provoking  the  deception  itself; 
as  indeed  generally  the  credulity  of  the  Greeks,  and  their  child- 
ish admiration  of  Egyptian  falsehood,  has  very  much  contribut- 
ed to  awaken  the  mere  spirit  of  deception  among  this  people. 
The  priests  now  relate  to  him  a  long  history,  with  the  most 
characteristic  circumstances,  and  much  better  devised  than 
the  Hycsos-fable  of  M  a  n  e  t  h  o .  In  the  whole,  the  praise 
of  the  pretended  Egyptian  king  Proteus,  the  magnifying 
of  his  wisdom  and  justice,  is  the  '  punctum  saliens.'  In 
the  Greek  tradition,  Egypt  occupied  but  a  subordinate  place, 
here  it  is  made  prominent.  The  Egyptian  king  deprived  the 
robber  of  his  spoil.  The  Greeks  go  to  Troy  and  take  the  city 
in  vain.  Menelaus  first  receives  back  his  spouse  from  the 
hands  of  Proteus.  Even  here  the  Egyptians  are  not  satisfied 
with  self-praise;  another's  shadow  must  yield  them  light. 
Menelaus  repays  all  favor  and  love  with  ingratitude.  He 
steals  away  two  Egyptian  boys  and  offers  them  in  sacrifice. 
The  whole,  H  erod  otus  allows  to  be  imposed  upon  him, 
and  supposes  that  Homer  has  deviated  from  the  truth  ob- 

riam  ex  rebus  Graeciae  comparantium  et  fabulas  Graecas  in  earn  fidem 
interpretantium,  turn  Herodoti  his  de  rebus  opinio  apprimis  intelligi 
potest. 

*  B.  2.  113—20.  t  Jahns  Jahr.  f.  Phil.  0.  3.  S.  276  ff. 

24 


278 


APPENDIX. 


tained  among  the  Egyptians,  since  it  was  not  suited  to  his 
poetical  design ! 

We  have  before  intimated  that  such  stolen  Greek  goods 
are  also  found  in  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  ;  for  example,  the  story  of 
Armais=Danaus  and  Thuoris=Polybius. 


NOTES 


NOTES. 


P.  1.  Von  Bohlen  (Peter),  was  bom  at  W&ppels  iu  1796  of  poor 
parents,  and  was  left  an  orphan  in  1811.  In  1817  he  was  received 
into  the  Gymnasium  at  Hamburg,  where  he  turned  his  attention  to 
oriental  studies.  He  was  the  pupil  of  Gesenius,  Roediger  and  Hofi'- 
mann  in  the  University  at  Halle,  in  1821 ;  and  in  1822  he  went  to  Bonn 
and  attended  upon  the  instructions  of  Freytag  and  Schlegel.  In 
1825  he  was  elected  professor  extraordinary  of  Oriental  Languages  at 
Konigsberg  and  regular  professor  at  the  same  place  in  1830.  He  has 
since  removed  to  Berlin.  His  work  so  often  referred  to  in  this  volume 
is  entitled,  "  Die  Genesis  historischcritisch  erlautert,"  Konigsberg, 
1835.  It  was  answered  by  Drechsler,  at  Leipsic,  in  1837.  The  neo- 
logical  sentiments  of  the  author  may  be  easily  inferred  from  the  quota- 
tions and  references  made  byHengstenberg.  Allusion  is  also  made 
in  this  volume  in  one  or  two  cases,  to  his  book  on  India :  "  Das  alte 
Indien  mit  besonderer  Riicksicht  auf  Aegypten."  He  has  pubhshed 
several  other  works  which  are  somewhat  known  in  Germany. 

P.  2.  Pyramids  of  Brick.  Four  built  of  brick  are  still  in  existence 
in  Lower  Egypt,  two  at  Dashoor  and  two  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Fyoom.  Several  of  smaller  size  are  also  found  in  Thebes.  See  W  i  1- 
k  i  n  s  o  n.  Vol.  f .  131,  and  HI.  317. 

P.  2.  That  early  age.  As  H  e  ngste  nbe  rg  has  not  given  thepre- 
cise  dates  here,  it  may  be  proper  to  add  that  arches  were  constructed  of 
brick  at  least  as  early  as  1540,  B.  C.  in  the  reign  of  Amunoph  I.,  and 
probably  in  the  time  of  the  first  Osirtasen,  who  is  supposed  by  W  i  1- 
kins  on  to  have  been  contemporary  with  Joseph.  "  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,"  says  the  same  author,  "  That  more  bricks  bearing  the  name 
of  Thothmes  III,  (whom  I  suppose  to  have  been  king  of  Egypt  at 
the  time  of  the  Exodus)  have  been  discovered  than  of  any  other 
period." 


282  NOTES. 

p.  5.  Sheep.  Wi  Iki  n  son  in  his  "Mannersand  Customs  of  the 
Ancient  Egyptians,"  second  series,  Vol.  1.  p.  130,  131,  etc.,  gives  the 
representation  of  a  scene  from  a  tomb  hewn  in  the  rock  near  the 
pyramids  of  Geezeh,  which  is  of  special  interest  as  illustrating  several 
points  in  Egyptian  antiquity.  The  tomb  bears  the  name  of  the  king 
Suphis  or  Cheops  which  shows  it,  at  least,  to  be  the  work  of  an  age 
before  the  18th  dynasty,  and  in  all  probability  it  was  made  about 2090 
or  2050  B.C.,  more  than  a  century  before  the  arrival  of  Abraham  in 
Egypt.  The  head  sliepherd  presents  himself  to  give  an  account  of  the 
flocks  committed  to  his  chai'ge  which  follow  after  him.  "  First  come 
the  oxen,  over  which  is  the  number  834,  cows  220,  goats  3234,  asses 
760,  and  sheep  974.  Behind  follows  a  man  carrying  the  young  lambs 
in  baskets  slung  upon  a  pole.  The  steward,  leaning  on  his  staff"  and 
accompanied  by  his  dog,  stands  on  the  left  of  the  picture  ;  and  in  an- 
other part  of  the  tomb,  the  scribes  are  represented  making  out  the 
statements  presented  to  them  by  the  different  persons  employed  on 
the  estate."  The  bearing  of  this  painting  upon  several  subsequent 
parts  of  this  volume  should  not  be  unnoticed ;  compare  especially 
pp.  25,  87. 

P.  6.  JVome,  -province^  from  the  Greek  vojuos,  is  the  name  given  to 
each  of  the  36  parts  into  which  Sesostris  divided  Egypt. 

P.  6.  MiNUTOLi,  Henry,  Baron  Menu  Von,  born  at  Geneva,  of  a 
Savoyard  family,  in  1772,  is  best  known  by  his  antiquarian  researches 
in  Egypt.  He  went  to  that  country  in  1820,  and  returned  in  1822.  A 
part  of  his  collection  of  antiquities  was  lost  by  a  shipwreck  The 
remainder  purchased  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  for  about  $15,000,  were 
deposited  in  tJie  new  museum  at  Berlin.  His  most  distinguished 
work  is  the  "Journey  to  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Amnion  in  the  desert 
of  Lybia,"  Berlin  1824.  He  published  "Additions  to  his  Journey," 
etc.  in  1827. 

P.  10.  That  this  south-east  icind^  etc.  Numerous  books  of  travels 
might  be  referred  to  in  which  easterly  winds  in  Egypt  are  mentioned. 
But  it  is  unnecessary.  Russell  in  his  Ancient  and  Modern  Egypt, 
says :  "About  the  autumnal  equinox  they  (the  winds)  veer  round  to  the 
east,  where  they  remain  nearly  six  weeks,  \Yith  only  slight  deviations." 
Although  this  declaration  may  not  be  strictly  correct,  yet  it  is  an 
additional  testimony  to  the  fact  that  they  have  easterly  winds  in  Egypt 
which  is  all  that  is  needed  here  ;  for  it  is  universally  acknowledged 


NOTES.  283 

by  Hebrew  scholars,  that  any  wind  from  the  eastern  quarter  of  the 
heavens  would  be  designated  by  a  Hebrew  as  east  wind.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  Prof.  Robinson's  Biblical  Researches  is  intro- 
duced not  only  from  its  appropriateness  in  this  connection,  but  as 
furnishing  a  similar  style  of  reasoning  to  that  employed  by  H  e  n  g  - 
stenbergin  treating  of  the  plagues  in  Egypt,  in  chapter  iii.  of  this 
volume  :  "  The  Lord,  it  is  said,  caused  the  sea  to  go  (or  flow  out)  by 
a  strong  east  ivind.  The  miracle  therefore,  is  represented  as  mediate  ; 
not  a  direct  suspension  of,  or  interference  with  the  laws  of  nature, 
but  a  miraculous  adaptation  of  those  laws  to  produce  a  required  result. 
It  was  wrought  by  natural  means  supernaturally  applied.  For  this 
reason  we  are  here  entitled  to  look  only  for  the  natural  effects  arising 
from  the  operation  of  such  a  cause.  In  the  somewhat  indefinite 
phraseology  of  the  Hebrew,  an  east  wind  means  any  wind  from  the 
eastern  quarter  ;  and  would  include  the  north-east  wind,  which  often 
prevails  in  this  region." — Vol.  I.  p.  82,  3. 

P.  12.  In  the  year  1774.  This  refers  to  the  Grecian  era,  or  era  of 
the  Seleucidae,  which  dates  from  the  reign  of  Seleucus  Nicator  311 
B.C. 

P.  13.  Descrijjtion  of  the  French  Scholars.  The  full  title  of  this 
Work  which  is  so  often  quoted  byHengstenbergas  the  Descrip- 
tion is:  "Description  de  I'Egypte,  ou  Recueil  des  Observations  et 
des  Recherches  pendant  I'Expedition  de  I'Armte  Fran^aise."  It 
consists  of  25  volumes  with  more  than  900  engravings  and  3000 
sketches.  The  last  number  appeared  in  1826.  It  is  composed  of  the 
documents  prepared  by  the  eminent  savans  and  artists  who  accom- 
panied Bonaparte  in  his  expedition  to  Egypt.  It  was  printed  at  the 
expense  of  the  French  Government,  and  "corresponds  in  the  grandeur 
of  its  proportions,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Am.  Enc,  "  to  the  edifices 
which  it  describes." 

P.  23.  JImun-m-gori  II,  of  the  sixteenth  dynasty.  The  first  king  of 
Egypt  was  Menes,  who  according  to  Wilkinson  ascended  the 
throne  about  2320  B.  C.  The  kings  from  him  to  the  invasion  of 
Cambyses  are  divided  by  M  a  n  e  t  h  o  into  twenty-six  dynasties.  But 
very  little  is  known  of  any  of  those  who  precede  Osirtasen  I.,  who  be- 
longs to  the  sixteenth  dynasty.  The  names  of  most  of  the  succeeding 
monarchs  of  the  sixteenth,  and  those  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
dynasties,  often  occur  on  the  monuments,  and  are  so  often  mentioned 


284 


NOTES. 


in  this  volume,  that  it  was  thought  it  might  be  well  to  insert  here, 
with  some  slight  changes,  the  table  found  in  Wilkinson.  Thus, 
when  the  name  of  a  king,  as  Amun-m-gori  or  Osirtasen  occurs,  by 
turning  to  this  table,  the  date  of  his  reign  may  be  seen,  and  in  some 
cases  an  important  event  which  occurred  during  it.  The  eighteenth 
dynasty  is  of  special  interest  in  several  respects.  It  was  the  pe- 
riod of  conquest.  In  it  most  of  the  events  recorded  in  the  Books  of 
Moses  occurred.  And  a  large  part  of  the  monuments  were  con- 
structed about  this  time.  Four  hieroglyphical  lists  of  the  kings  of 
this  dynasty  exist,  in  addition  to  the  list  of  M a  n e  th o  :  "  The  Tab- 
let of  Abydos,  the  Procession  of  the  Ramesseion,  the  Procession  of 
Medeenet  Haboo  and  the  Tomb  of  Gurnah."  The  chronology  of 
Wilkinson  has  been  followed  here,  as  generally  in  this  volume. 
Those  who  are  desirous  of  comparing  that  of  Rosellini  will  find 
it  for  substance  in  M  r.  G  1  i  d  d  o  n  's  "  Ancient  Egypt." 


Name  Trom 
ancient  Authors. 


Name  from  the 
Monuments. 


Events. 


Ascend- 
ed the 
Throne. 


Misartesen 


16th  Dijnastij^  of  Tanites  ? 

Arrival  of  Joseph,  1706. 

|.     .     .     . 
|.     .     .     . 

Ylth  Dynasty^  of  Memjjhites  ? 


Osirtasen  I.     . 
Amun-m-gori  ? 

I.  . 
Amun-m-gori  ? 

II.  .^       . 


(Uncertain.) 


Osirtasen  II.  . 
Nofri-Ftep,  or 

Osirtasen  HI. 
Amun-m-gori  ? 

III.  .^  . 
(Unknown.)    . 


i  Joseph  died  1635. 


18th  Dynasty^  of  Tkchan  or  Diospolitaji  Kings. 


Amosis  (Chebron) 


Amenoph 
Amesses,  or  A  men- 
ses, liis  sister 


(Chebron) 
Ames 


Amunoph  I.  . 
)  Amcnse,  his 
S    sister 


'  There  arose  a  new 
(dynasty,  or)  king, 
who  knew  not  Jo- 
seph." Exodus  I  H. 
Moses  born  MM  J^  VJ 


C  Included   in  the  reign 


Thothmes  I. 


B.  C. 

1740 
1696 

1686 


165] 
1636 

1621 
1580 


1575 

1550 


NOTES. 


285 


Name  from 
ancient  authors. 


IVIephres,  Mesphris, 
or  Mesphra-Tuth- 
inosis  . 

Misphra-Tummosis 
or  Tothmosis 

Thummosis,  or 
Tothmosis  . 

Amenophis    . 
Horus   . 

Aehenchres,     (a 
queen) 

Rathotis 

Achencheres,   or 

Chebres 
Achencheres,   or 

Acherres 
Armais 


Remeses  Maimi 


Amenophis 


Name  from  the 
Monuments. 


Thothmes 


>  Thothmes  II. 

C  Thothmes 
i    III. 

Amunoph  II. 
Thothmes  IV. 
Maut-m-Shoi 
(Regency) 

Amunoph  II J. 

^  A  mum-men  ? 

(  Remesso,    or 
(    Remeses  I. 
Osirei  ?  I. 


fAmun-mai 
J  Remeses,  Re- 
j  meses  II.,  or 
j^the  Great    . 

C  Fthahmen- 
<  Thmeiof- 
(    tep  ?  his  son 


Events. 


His  14th  year  found 
on  the  monuments. 

The  reign  of  Amun- 
neit-gori  included  in 
this. 

Exod.  of  the  Israelites 
1491, 430  yers  after  the 
arrival  of  Abraham. 

Moses  died  1451 . 

Included  in  the  reign  of 
her  son,  Amunoph  III 

The  supposed  Memnon 
of  tlie  vocal  statue. 


^The  supposed  Sesostris 
of  the  Greeks.  The 
date  of  his  44th  and  62d 
year  found  on  the  mon- 
uments. Manetho  al- 
lows him  66. 


Ascend- 
ed the 
Throne. 


I? 


.0. 

1532 


1505 


1495 

1456 
1446 


1430 

1408 

1395 
1385 

1355 

1289 


P.  33.  Piromis.  Herodotus  undoubtedly  is  mistaken  in  re- 
gard to  the  meaning  of  this  word.  It  signifies  the  man,  and  is  com- 
posed of  the  Egyptian  article  prefixed  to  'romi,'  man.  SeeWil- 
k  i  n  s  o  n,  Man.  and  Cus,  second  series.  Vol.  I.  p.  170. 


P.  38.  Caste.  The  people  in  Egypt  were  divided  into  four  great  clas- 
ses, and  each  of  these  were  again  subdivided.  The  first  was  the  sacer- 
dotal caste,  consisting  of  priests  of  various  grades,  scribes,  embalmers, 
etc.  The  second  was  the  agricultural  class,  including  the  military 
order,  farmers,  gardeners,  and  persons  of  similar  occupations.  The 
third  class  were  the  townsmen,  composed  of  artificers,  tradesmen, 
etc.  The  fourth  class,  the  common  people,  included  factors,  laborers 
and  various  others.  The  military  order  seems  to  have  been  nmch 
more  honored  tlian  the  rest  of  the  second  class,  if  indeed  they  did  not 


286  NOTES. 

compose  a  separate  caste.  The  king  could  be  chosen  only  from  among 
them  or  the  sacerdotal  order.  If  chosen  from  the  military  caste,  he 
was  immediately  admitted  to  the  order  of  priests  and  instructed  in  all 
their  secret  learning.  The  subject  of  caste  is  discussed  at  large  in 
Wilkinson,  Vol.  I.  p.  236  seq.,  and  Vol.  II.  p.  1  seq.,  to  whom 
the  reader  is  referred. 

P.  45.  When  we  fix  upon  the  land  of  Goshen  as  the  region  east  of 
the  Tanitic  arm  of  the  Kile,  etc.  The  view  of  our  author  with  regard 
to  the  position  of  the  land  of  Goshen  agrees,  substantially,  with  that  of 
Dr.  Robinson  and  other  scholars  of  the  present  day.  "  This  tract,' ' 
it  is  said,  in  the  Biblical  Researches,  Vol.  I.  p.  76,  "  is  comprehended  in 
the  modern  province  esh-Shurkiyeh,  which  extends  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Abu  Za'bel  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  desert  to  the  former 
Tanaitic  branch  of  the  Nile ;  thus  including  also  the  valley  of  the  an- 
cient canal." 

P.  59.  In  the  best  of  the  land.  "The  land  of  Goshen,"  says  Dr. 
Robinson,  "  was  the  best  of  the  land  ;  and  such,  too,  the  province 
esh-Shurkiyeh  has  ever  been,  down  to  the  present  time.  In  the  re- 
markable Arabic  document  translated  by  D  e  S  ac  y,  containing  a  val- 
uation of  all  the  provinces  and  villages  of  Egypt  in  the  year  1376,  the 
province  of  the  Shiirkiyeh  comprises  383  towns  and  villages,  and  is 
valued  at  1,411,875  Dinars — a  larger  sum  than  is  put  upon  any  other 
province,  with  one  exception.  During  my  stay  in  Cairo,  I  made 
many  inquiries  respecting  this  district ;  to  which  the  uniform  reply 
was,  that  it  was  considered  the  best  province  in  Egypt.  —  This  (its 
fertility)  arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is  intersected  by  canals,  while  the 
surface  of  the  land  is  less  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  Nile,  than 
in  other  parts  of  Egypt ;  so  that  it  is  more  easily  irrigated.  There  are 
here  more  flocks  and  herds  than  anywhere  else  in  Egypt ;  and  also 
more  fishermen."     Compare,  with  this  last  expression,  p.  224  supra. 

P.  59.  Tlie  distance  is  then  far  too  great.  "We  were  quite  satis- 
fied from  our  own  observation,  that  they  (the  Israelites)  could  not 
have  passed  to  the  Red  Sea  from  any  point  near  Heliopolis  or  Cairo 
in  three  days,  the  longest  interval  which  the  language  of  the  narra- 
tive allows.  Both  the  distance  and  the  want  of  water  on  all  the 
routes,  are  fatal  to  sucli  an  hypothesis.  We  read,  that  there  were  six 
hundred  thousand  men  of  tlie  Israelites  above  twenty  years  of  age, 
who  left  Egypt  on  foot.     There  must  of  course  have  been  as  many 


NOTES.  287 

women  above  twenty  years  old  ;  and  at  least  an  equal  number  both  of 
males  and  females  under  the  same  age  ;  besides  the  '  mixed  multi- 
tude '  spoken  of,  and  very  much  cattle.  The  whole  number,  there- 
fore, probably  amounted  to  two  and  a  half  millions,  and  certainly  to 
not  less  than  two  millions.  Now  the  usual  day's  march  of  the  best 
appointed  armies,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  is  not  estimated 
higher  than  fourteen  English  or  twelve  geographical  miles  ;  and  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  the  Israelites,  encumbered  with  women  and 
children  and  flocks,  would  be  able  to  accomplish  more.  But  the  dis- 
tance on  all  these  routes  being  not  less  than  sixty  geographical  miles, 
they  could  not  well  have  travelled  it  in  any  case  in  less  than  five 
days."— JBi6.  Res.,  Vol.  I.  p.  74,  75. 

P.  59.  This  distance  appears  not  too  great.  "  From  thirty  to  thirty- 
five  miles,  which  might  easily  have  been  passed  over  in  three  days." 
—Bib.  Res.  Vol.  I.  p.  80. 

P.  59.  Raamses.  It  may  be  proper  to  say  here,  that  in  this  volume 
Remeses  is  spelt  in  three  ways.  When  it  is  the  name  of  a  king,  it  is, 
on  the  authority  of  Wilkinson,  Remeses.  In  the  other  two  cases, 
the  method  of  the  verse  in  the  Bible,  to  which  allusion  is  made,  is 
retained. 

P.  70.  Embalming.,  etc.  Additional  information  upon  the  topics 
discussed  in  this  section  may  be  found  in  Wilkinson,  Vol.  II. 
Sec.  Ser.  p.  451  seq.  and  402  seq.,  with  which  compare  Lane's 
Mod.  Eg.  pp.  285—311. 

P.  94.  Mandoo.  "The  Pharaohs  frequently  styled  themselves 
'Mandoo  towards  the  Gentiles;'  from  which  it  appears  that  he  was 
the  avenger  or  protector  against  enemies,  the  Mars  of  Egyptian  my- 
thology, with  the  additional  title  of  Ultor.,  '  avenger,'  like  the  Roman 
God  o?lVd.t."— Wilkinson,  Vol.  11.  Sec.  Ser.  p.  34. 

P.  102.  Haje.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  this  species  of  serpent, 
the  asp  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  was  considered  sacred  throughout 
the  whole  country,  "It  was  worshipped,"  says  Plutarch,  De 
Isid.,  "  on  account  of  a  certain  resemblance  between  it  and  the  opera- 
tions of  the  divine  power.  It  was  the  emblem  of  the  God  Neph  and 
the  Goddess  Ranno.  The  asp  was  easily  tamed,  and  came  from  its 
place  of  concealment  by  the   snapping  of  the  fingers."      Aelian 


288  NOTES. 

(Lib.  vi.  c.  33)  speaks  of  the  power  of  the  Egyptians  to  charm  ser- 
pents, and  call  them  forth  from  their  lurking  places,  etc.  "  Mum- 
mies of  ihem  have  been  discovered  in  the  Necropolis  of  Thebes."  Com- 
pare W  i  Ik.  Vol.  I.  Sec.  Ser.  p.  237—242,  also  upon  the  Cerastes  or 
horned  snake  mentioned  on  p.  101,  see  245  seq. 

P.  103.  The^J  sometimes  also  tear  serpe7its  icith  their  teeth.  Lane 
in  his  "Modern  Egyptians,"  Vol.11,  p.  207,  says:  "Serpents  and 
scorpions  were  not  unfrequently  eaten  by  Siadees  during  my  former 
visit  to  this  country.  The  former  were  deprived  of  their  poisonous 
teeth,  or  rendered  harmless  by  having  their  upper  and  lower  lips 
bored,  and  tied  together  on  each  side  with  a  silk  string,  to  prevent 
their  biting ;  and  sometimes,  those  which  were  merely  carried  in  pro- 
cession had  two  silver  rings  put  in  place  of  the  silk  strings.  When- 
ever a  Saadee  ate  the  flesh  of  a  live  serpent,  he  was,  or  afiected  to  be, 
excited  to  do  so  by  a  kind  of  frenzy.  He  pressed  very  hard,  with  ' 
the  end  of  his  thumb,  upon  the  reptile's  back,  as  he  grasped  it,  at  a 
point  about  two  inches  from  the  head  ;  and  all  that  he  ate  of  it  was 
the  head  and  the  part  between  it  and  the  point  where  his  thumb 
pressed  ;  of  which  he  made  three  or  four  mouthfuls  :  the  rest  he  threw 
away." 

P.  159.  That  a  connection  here  exists  between  Egyptian  arid  Israd- 
itish  antiquity.,  etc.  The  general  similarity  of  the  sacerdotal  institu- 
tions among  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  the  Israelites  is  very  notice- 
able. The  ceremony  of  investiture  to  office  of  the  priests,  among  the 
Israelites,  is  described  in  Exodus  27  :  5 — 7,  "  Thou  shalttake  the  gar- 
ments, and  put  upon  Aaron  the  coat,  and  the  robe  of  the  ephod,  and 
the  ephod,  and  the  breast-plate,  and  gird  him  with  the  curious  girdle 
of  the  ephod  :  and  thou  shalt  put  the  mitre  upon  his  head  and  put  the 
holy  crown  upon  the  mitre.  Then  shalt  thou  take  the  anointing  oil  and 
pour  it  upon  his  head."  The  priest  is  anointed  with  oil  after  he  has 
put  on  his  entire  dress.  "  The  Egyptians"  also,  "represent  the  anoint- 
ing of  their  priests  and  kings  after  they  were  attired  in  their  full  robes, 
with  the  cap  and  crown  upon  their  head.  Some  of  the  sculptures  in- 
troduce a  priest  pouring  oil  over  the  monarch,  in  the  presence  of  Thoth, 
Hor-Mat,  Ombte,  or  Nilus  ;  which  may  be  considered  a  representation 
of  the  ceremony,  before  the  statues  of  those  gods.  The  functionary 
who  ofliciated  was  tlie  high-priest  of  the  king.  He  was  clad  in  a 
leopard-skin,  and  was  the  same  who  attended  on  all  occasions  which 
required  him  to  assist,  or  assume  the  duties  of,  the  monarch  in  the 


NOTES.  289 

temple.  This  leopard-skin  dress  was  worn  by  the  high-priests  on  all 
the  most  important  solemnities,  and  the  king  himself  adopted  it  when 
engaged  in  the  same  duties." — Wilkinson,  Mem.  and  Cus., 2d  Ser., 
Vol.  II.  p.  280.  Both  the  Egyptians  and  Israelites  were  purified  with 
water  before  they  assumed  the  sacerdotal  robes.  (Ex.  40: 12 — 15.) 
They  were  divided  into  different  orders,  among  both  nations,  and  the 
oiFering  of  incense  was  limited  to  priests  of  the  highest  rank.  Priests 
were  the  judges,  also,  among  the  Israelites  and  Egyptians.  Wilk- 
inson says,  Vol.1,  p.  282 :  "Besides  their  religious  duties,  the 
priests  fulfilled  the  important  ofiices  of  judges  and  legislators,  as  well 
as  counsellors  of  the  monarch  ;  and  the  laws,  as  among  many  other 
nations  of  the  East,  forming  part  of  the  sacred  books,  could  only  be 
administered  by  them."  So  in  Deut.  17:  8  —  "If  there  arise  a 
matter  too  hard  for  thee  in  judgment,  between  blood  and  blood,  be- 
tween plea  and  plea,  and  between  stroke  and  stroke,  being  matters  of 
controversy  within  thy  gates ;  then  shalt  thou  arise,  and  get  thee  up 
into  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  choose ;  and  thou  shalt 
come  unto  the  priests  the  Levites,  and  unto  the  judge  that  shall  be  in 
those  days,  and  inquire;  and  they  shall  show  thee  the  sentence  of 
judgment."  —  Of  the  similarity  of  Urim  and  Thummim  to  the  Egyp- 
tian symbol,  Wilkinson,  (Vol.  II.  2d  Ser.  p.  28,)  after  speaking  of 
the  badge  of  the  judge  among  the  Egyptians,  says  :  "  A  similar  em- 
blem was  used  by  the  high-priest  of  the  Jews ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  the  word  Thummim  is  not  only  translated  '  truth,'  but,  be- 
ing a  plural  or  dual  word,  corresponds  to  the  Egyptian  notion  of  the 
'  two  Truths,'  or  the  double  capacity  of  this  goddess.  According  to 
some,  the  Urim  and  Thummim  signify  '  lights  and  j)erfections,'  or 
'  light  and  truth,' — which  last  present  a  striking  analogy  to  the  two 
figures  of  Re  and  Thmei,  in  the  breast-plate  worn  by  the  Egyptians. 
And  though  the  resemblance  of  the  Urim  and  the  Urasus  (or  basilisk), 
the  symbol  of  majesty,  suggested  by  lord  Prudhoe,  is  very  remarkable, 
I  am  disposed  to  think  the  '  lights,'  Aorim  or  Urim,  more  nearly  re- 
lated to  the  sun,  which  is  seated  in  the  breast-plate  with  the  figure  of 
Truth." 

P.  164.  The  sphinx  symbolizes  merely  the  union  of  the  tioo  designated 
qualities.  Mr.  Wilkinson  in  his  last  work  confirms  the  opinion 
expressed  in  the  former  one,  with  regard  to  the  sphinx,  and  in  effect, 
if  his  positions  are  correct,  answers  the  objections  of  Hen  gs  ten- 
b  e  r  g  to  the  view  that  the  sphinx  designates  not  qualities  alone,  but 
the  king  as  the  possessor  of  these  qualities.     1  give  a  rather  long  ex- 

25 


290  NOTES. 

tract,  tut  try?*  it  will  not  from  its  bearing  on  the  whole  section  be 
deemed  out  of  place.  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  author  of  this 
volume  had  not  seen  this  last  series  of  Mr. Wilkinson:  "  The 
most  distinguished  post  amongst  fabulous  animals  must  be  conceded 
to  tiie  sphinx.  It  was  of  three  kinds, — the  .^/i^//o-s;;/tr/i.f,  with  the 
head  of  a  man  and  the  bcdy  of  a  lion,  denoting  the  union  of  intellec- 
tual and  physical  power  ;  the  Crio-sphinx,  with  the  head  of  a  ram  and 
the  body  of  a  lion  ;  and  the  Hieraco-sphinx,  with  the  same  body  and 
the  head  of  a  hawk.  They  were  all  types  or  representatives  of  the 
king.  The  two  last  were  probably  so  figured  in  token  of  respect  to 
the  two  deities  whose  heads  they  bore,  Neph  and  Re  ;  the  other  great 
deities,  Amun,  Khem,  Ptliah  and  Osiris,  having  human  heads,  and 
therefore  all  connected  with  the  form  of  the  Andro-sphinx.  The 
king  was  not  only  represented  under  the  mysterious  figure  of  a 
sphinx,  but  also  of  a  ram,  and  of  a  hawk ;  and  this  last  had,  more- 
over, the  peculiar  signification  of  '■Phrah,'  or  Pharaoh,  Hhe  Sun,'  per- 
sonified by  the  monarch.  The  inconsistency,  therefore,  of  making 
the  sphinx  female,  is  sufficiently  obvious. — When  represented  in  the 
sculptures,  a  deity  is  often  seen  presenting  the  sphinx  with  the 
sign  of  life,  or  other  divine  gifts  usually  vouchsafed  by  the  gods  to  a 
king;  as  well  as  to  the  ram  or  hawk,  when  in  the  same  capacity,  as 
an  emblem  of  a  Pharaoh."— Vol.  II.  p.  200. 

P.  184.  ^zazel.  Compare  "  Theologische  Studien  und  Kritiken," 
ErstesHeft  1843,  S.  191  and  2,  and  "  Bib.  Repository"  for  July,  1842, 
p.  116  seq. 

P.  195.  Among  the.  Egyptians,  the  separation  bettceen  the  rational  and 
irrational  creation  zoas  removed.  The  notions  of  the  Egyptians  with 
regard  to  animals,  were,  many  of  them,  strange  and  exceedingly 
ridiculous.  Many  of  them  were  looked  upon  as  deities,  and  worship- 
ped, throughout  the  country.  Others  were  mere  emblems  of  the 
gods.  Some  were  honored  as  good,  and  others  were  execrated  as 
bad.  The  same  animal  was  venerated  in  one  province  and  served  up, 
as  a  delicacy  of  the  table,  in  another.  Keepers,  of  both  sexes,  were 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  sacred  animals,  and  a  revenue  was 
provided  for  the  maintenance  both  of  the  keepers  and  the  animals. 
This  employment  was  considered  particularly  honorable,  and  was  ex- 
ecuted by  persons  of  the  first  caste.  While  living,  animals  were 
treated  with  all  the  respect  which  belongs  to  the  most  honored  human 
beings;  and  although  they  could  neither  understand  nor  enjoy  them. 


NOTES.  291 

were  provided  with  all  the  luxuries  and  surrounded  by  all  the  com- 
forts which  wealth  can  bestow ;  and  when  they  died,  they  were 
lamented  and  embalmed  as  if  they  were  most  dear  friends.  Dif- 
ferent authors  have  attempted  to  account  for  these  facts  in  dif- 
ferent ways.  After  enumerating  several  theories,  Wilkinson, 
(Manners  and  Customs,  Second  Series,  Vol.  II.,  p.  108)  says: 
*' It  is,  therefore,  evident,  that  neither  the  benefits  derived  by  man 
from  the  habits  of  certain  animals,  nor  the  reputed  reasons  for  their 
peculiar  choice  as  emblems  of  the  gods,  were  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  reverence  paid  to  many  of  those  they  held  sacred.  Some,  no 
doubt,  may  have  been  indebted  to  the  first-mentioned  cause;  and, 
however  little  connection  appears  to  subsist  between  those  animals 
and  the  gods  of  whom  they  were  the  types,  we  may  believe  that  the 
ox,  cow,  sheep,  dog,  cat,  vulture,  hawk.  Ibis,  and  some  others,  were 
chosen  from  their  utility  to  man.  We  may  also  see  sufficient  rea- 
sons for  making  some  others  sacred,  in  order  to  prevent  their  being 
killed  for  food,  because  tiieir  flesh  was  unwholsome,  as  was  the  case 
with  certain  fish  of  the  Nile, — a  precaution  which  extended  to  some  of 
the  vegetables  of  the  country.  But  this  will  not  account  for  the 
choice  they  made  in  many  instances  ;  for  why  should  not  the  camel 
and  horse  have  been  selected  for  the  first,  and  many  other  common 
animals  and  reptiles  for  the  last- mentioned  reason .?  There  was,  as 
Porphyry  observes,  some  other  hidden  motive,  independent  of  these  ; 
and  whether  it  was,  as  Plutarch  supposes,  founded  on  rational  grounds, 
(with  a  view  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  community,)  on  acci- 
dental or  imaginary  analogy,  or  on  mere  caprice,  it  is  equally  difficult 
to  discover  it,  or  satisfactorily  to  account  for  the  selection  of  certain 
animals,  as  the  exclusive  types  of  particular  deities." 

'  P.  200.  Tke  monuments  confirm  the  accounts  of  classical  icriters. 
Mr.  W  ilk  in  s  on,  in  his  Manners  and  Customs,  Sec.  Series,  I.  p.  203, 
says  of  the  sacred  women  among  the  Egyptians;  "That  certain 
women,  of  the  first  families  of  tlie  country,  were  devoted  to  the 
service  of  the  God  of  Thebes,  is  perfectly  true,  as  I  have  had  occa- 
sion already  to  remark  ;  and  they  were  the  same  whom  Herodotus 
mentions  under  the  name  of  yvvatnag  iQtfiag,  or  'sacred  women, 
consecrated  to  the  Theban  Jove.'  The  statement  of  Diodorus,  that 
their  sepulchres  were  distant  from  the  tomb  of  Osymandyas  ten  stadia, 
or  little  more  than  6000  feet,  agrees  perfectly  with  the  position  of 
those  where  the  Queens  and  princesses  were  buried,  in  the  Necropolis 
of  Thebes  ;  and  is  highly  satisfactory,  from  its  confirming  the  opinion 


292  NOTES. 

formed  from  the  sculptures,  respecting  the  office  they  held.  For 
though  we  are  unable  to  ascertain  the  exact  duties  they  performed,  it 
is  evident  that  they  assisted  in  the  most  important  ceremonies  of  the 
temple,  in  company  with  the  monarch  himself,  holding  the  sacred 
emblems  which  were  the  badge  of  their  office  ;  and  the  importance  of 
the  post  is  sufficiently  evinced  by  the  fact  that  the  wives  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  noblest  families  of  the  country,  of  the  high-priests,  and  of 
the  kings  themselves,  were  proud  to  enjoy  the  honor  it  conferred." 

P.  211.  Lcmanon.  W  i  Ik  i  n so  n  Vol.  1.  p.62  says  :  ''-The  common 
custom  of  substituting  m  for  h  in  Coptic,  and  the  representation  of  a 
mountainous  and  woody  country  in  which  the  chariots  could  not  pass, 
convince  me  that  this  is  intended  for  mount  Lebanon." 

P.  213.  Sarah  must  therefore  have  been  unveiled.  A  passage  from 
G  1  i  d  d  o  n  's  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  48,  is  worthy  of  insertion  here,  not 
only  from  the  light  v.'hich  it  throws  upon  this  section  and  the  one 
contained  on  pp.  25-7,  but  also  from  its  general  interest  in  relation  to 
the  state  of  society  among  the  ancient  Egyptians:  "There  was  no 
Salic  law  in  Egypt;  and  in  a  country  where  females  were  admitted 
to  a  full  participation  in  all  legitimate  privileges  with  man — where 
women  were  queens  in  their  own  right — royal  priestesses  from  their 
birth ;  and  otherwise  treated  as  females  are,  in  all  civilized  and  chris- 
tian countries,  there  were  none  of  those  social  restrictions  that  else- 
where enslaved  the  minds,  or  constrained  the  persons  of  the  gentler 
sex.  We  have  the  most  positive  and  incontrovertible  evidence,  in  a 
series  of  monuments  coeval  with  Egyptian  events  for  2500  years,  to 
prove  that  the  female  sex  in  Egypt  was  honored,  civihzed,  educated, 
and  as  free  as  among  ourselves;  and  this  is  the  most  unanswerable 
proof  of  the  high  civilization  of  that  ancient  people.  This  is  the 
strongest  point  of  distinction  between  the  Egyptian  social  system  of 
ancient  times,  and  that  of  any  other  eastern  nation.  Even  among 
the  Hebrews,  the  Jewish  female  was  never  placed  in  relation  to  man, 
in  the  same  high  position  as  her  more  happy  and  privileged  sister  en- 
joyed in  Egypt." 

P.  215.  Stands  in  connection  viith  the  loorship  of^pis.  Wilkinson 
connects  it  with  the  worship  of  the  Mnevis  of  Heliopolis.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  worship  of  the  sacred  animals  in  general  he  says  :  The  He- 
brew legislator  felt  tlie  necessity  of  preventing  the  Jews  from  falling 
into  this,  the  most  gross  practice  of  which  idolatry  was  guilty.     The 


NOTES.  293 

^vorship  of  the  golden  calf,  a  representation  of  the  Mnevis  of  Heliopolis, 
was  a  proof  how  their  minds  had  become  imbued  with  the  superstitions 
they  had  beheld  in  Egypt,  which  the  mixed  '  multitude  had  practised 
there.'  "  Sec.  Ser.  Vol.  II.  p.  96-7.  But  it  is  of  little  consequence 
which  is  referred  to.     The  allusion  is  sufficiently  plain  in  either  case- 

P.  217.  And  burned  it  icith  fire  and  beat  it.  In  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n, 
Vol.  III.  p.  220-1,  it  is  said  :  "  A  strong  evidence  of  the  skill  of  the 
Egyptians  in  working  metals,  and  of  the  early  advancement  they 
made  in  this  art,  is  derived  from  their  success  in  the  management 
of  different  alloys;  which,  as  M.  Goguet  observes,  is  further  ar- 
o-ued  from  the  casting  of  the  golden  calf,  and  still  more  from  Moses 
being  able  to  burn  the  metal  and  reduce  it  to  powder ;  a  secret  which 
he  could  only  have  learnt  in  Egypt.  It  is  said  in  Exodus,  that '  Mo- 
ses took  the  calf  which  they  had  made,  and  burnt  it  in  the  fire,  and 
ground  it  to  powder,  and  strowed  it  upon  the  water,  and  made  the 
children  of  Israel  drink  of  it;'  an  operation  which,  according  to  the 
French  savant^  'is  known  by  all  who  work  in  metals  to  be  very  diffi- 
cult.' '  Commentators'  heads,'  he  adds,  *■  have  been  much  perplexed 
to  explain  how  Moses  burnt  and  reduced  the  gold  to  powder.  Many 
have  offered  vain  and  improbable  conjectures,  but  an  experienced 
chemist  lias  removed  every  difficulty  upon  the  subject,  and  has  sug- 
gested this  simple  process.  In  the  place  of  tartaric  acid,  which  we 
employ,  the  Hebrew  legislator  used  natron,  which  is  common  in  the 
East.  What  follows,  respecting  his  making  the  Israelites  drink  this 
powder,  proves  that  he  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  whole  effect 
of  the  operation.  He  wished  to  increase  the  punishment  of  their 
disobedience,  and  nothing  could  have  been  more  suitable ;  for  gold 
reduced  and  made  into  a  draught,  in  the  manner  I  have  mentioned, 
has  a  most  disagreeable  taste.'  " 

P.  224.  The  fact  that  fish  icere  placed  first  in  the  narrative.  We 
make  the  following  extract  from  its  interest  in  connection  with  several 
other  passages  in  the  Pentateuch  and  Isaiah,  as  well  as  the  one  under 
discussion  :  '^  Fishing  is  one  of  the  employments  most  frequently  de- 
picted on  the  monuments.  It  is  combined  with  fowling  by  amateur 
sportsmen,  and  even  with  the  chase  of  the  crocodile  and  the  hippopo- 
tamus ;  but  is  also  pursued  as  a  regular  trade  by  an  entire  caste.  It  is 
recorded  as  a  fearful  aggravation  of  the  First  Plague  of  Egypt,  that 
'  the  fish  that  was  in  the  river  died,'  (Exod.  vii.  21).  The  first  great 
complaints  of  the  Israelites  when  they  murmured  against  Moses  in  the 
25* 


294  NOTES. 

desert,  was  '  Wc  remember  the  fish  that  we  did  eat  in  Egypt  freely,' 
(Numbers,  xi.  5.)  And  this  abundance  of  fish  was  still  further  in- 
creased by  the  ponds,  sluices,  and  artificial  lakes  which  were  con- 
structed for  the  propagation  of  the  finny  tribe.  Hence  Jsaiah,  in  de- 
nouncing divine  vengeance  against  the  Egyptians,  dwells  particu- 
larly on  the  ruin  which  would  fall  upon  those  who  derived  their  sub- 
sistence from  the  animals  and  plants  of  the  Nile  :  'And  the  waters 
shall  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  river  shall  be  wasted  and  dried  up. 
And  they  shall  turn  the  rivers  far  away  ;  and  the  brooks  of  defence 
shall  be  emptied  and  dried  up  :  the  reeds  and  flags  shall  wither. 
The  paper  reeds  by  the  brooks,  by  the  mouth  of  the  brooks,  and 
everything  sown  by  the  brooks,  shall  wither,  be  driven  away,  and  be 
no  more.  The  fishers  also  shall  mourn,  and  all  they  that  cast  angle 
into  the  brooks  shall  lament,  and  they  that  spread  nets  upon  the  wa- 
ters shall  languish.  Moreover,  they  that  work  in  fine  flax,  and  they 
that  weave  net  works,  shall  be  confounded.  And  they  shall  be  bro- 
ken in  the  purposes  thereof,  all  that  make  sluices  and  ponds  for 
fish,  (Isaiah,  xix.  5 — 10.) — Although  the  Nile,  and  the  artificial 
lakes  were  constantly  swept  with  nets,  we  are  unable  to  discover  any 
proof  of  the  Egyptians  having  ever  fished  in  the  open  sea;  and  in- 
deed there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  fishes  of  the  sea  were,  from 
religious  motives,  regarded  with  abhorrence.  The  supply  has  not 
failed  in  modern  times;  the  right  of  fishery  on  the  canals  and  lakes 
is  annually  farmed  out  by  the  government  to  certain  individuals, 
who  pay  very  large  sums  for  the  privilege.  <  The  small  village 
of  Agalteh  at  Thebes,'  says  Mr.  W  ilk  i  n  son,  <  pays  annually  1500 
piastres  (about  2n.,)  to  government  for  the  fish  of  its  canal.'  M. 
M  i  c  h  a  u  d  in  his  delightful  letters  gives  an  account  of  the  fisheries 
on  the  lake  Menzaleh,  too  interesting  to  be  omitted.  ''The  waters 
of  Menzaleh  abound  in  fish  ;  the  Arabs  say  that  the  varieties  offish 
in  the  lake  exceed  the  number  of  days  in  the  year.  Although  this 
may  be  deemed  an  exaggeration,  it  is  certain  that  whatever  be  the 
number  of  their  species,  the  fishes  of  this  lake  multiply  infinitely." 
— "  On  the  monuments  the  fishermen  appear  as  a  class  inferior  to 
the  agricultural  population,  and  we  know  historically  tliat  they 
formed  one  of  the  lowest  castes.  This  was  also  the  case  in  Palestine, 
and  hence  when  Christ  chose  two  of  this  class  to  become  apostles, 
he  announces  to  thom  that  they  were  for  the  future  to  be  engaged  in 
a  more  honorable  occupation.  '  Now  as  he  walked  by  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  he  saw  Simon  and  Andrew  his  brother  casting  a  net  into  the 
sea:  for  they  were  fishers.     And  Jesus  said  unto  them.  Come  ye  af- 


NOTES.  295 

ter  me,  and  1  will  make  you  to  become  fishers  of  men.     And  straight- 
way they  forsook  their  nets  and  followed  hhn:"— Taylor,  p.  02  seq. 

F.  22G.  The  garlic  an  article  of  food  for  the  poorest  classes  . 
"Among  the  lower  orders,  vegetables  constituted  a  very  great  part 
of  their  ordinary  food,  and  they  gladly  availed  themselves  of  the  va- 
riety and  abundance  of  esculent  roots  growing  spontaneously,  in  the 
lands  irrigated  by  the  rising  Nile,  as  soon  as  its  vi^aters  had  subsided  ; 
some  of  which  were  eaten  in  a  crude  state,  and  others  roasted  in  the 
ashes,  boiled  or  stewed  :  their  chief  aliment,  and  that  of  their  chil- 
dren, consisting  of  milk  and  cheese,  roots,  leguminous,  cucurbita- 
ceous,  and  other  plants,  and  ordinary  fruits  of  the  country.  Hero- 
dotus describes  the  food  of  the  workmen,  who  built  the  Pyramids, 
to  have  been  the  '  raphanus  or  figl,  onions,  and  garlic;'  yet  if  these 
were  among  the  number  they  used,  and,  perhaps  the  sole  provisions 
supplied  at  the  government  expense,  we  are  not  to  suppose  they  were 
limited  to  them  :  and  it  is  probable  that  lentils,  of  which  it  is  inferred 
from  Strabo  they  had  an  abundance  on  this  occasion,  may  be  reckoned 
as  part,  or  even  the  chief  article,  of  their  food." — W  ilk.  II.  370. 

P.  232.  Fetldan  Doorah.  The  Fcddaii,  the  most  common  measure 
of  land  in  Egypt,  was  a  few  years  ago  equal  to  about  an  English  acre. 
It  is  now  less  than  an  acre. 

P.  234.  Carrying  of  the  loatcr  in  which  the  foot  has  most  to  do. 
This  does  not  reach  the  point,  since  the  passage  in  question  does  not 
seem  to  refer  to  the  mode  of  distributing,  but  of  supplying  the  water, 
t'  Possibly,"  says  Dr.  Robinson,!.  542,  "  in  more  ancient  times  the 
water-wheel  may  have  been  smaller,  and  turned  not  by  oxen,  but  by 
men  pressing  upon  it  with  the  foot,  in  the  same  way  that  water  is 
still  often  drawn  from  wells  in  Palestine,  as  we  afterwards  saw. 
N  i  e  b  u  h  r  describes  one  such  machine  in  Cairo,  where  it  was  called 
Sdkieh  tcdiir  bir  rijl,  "a  watering  machine  that  turns  by  the  foot,"  a 
view  of  which  he  also  subjoins."  The  testimony  in  regard  to  the 
severity  of  the  labor  of  irrigation  is  uniform.  Lane,  Modern  Egyp- 
tians, Vol.  II.  p.  24,  speaking  of  the  raising  of  water  by  the  Shaduf  says : 
"The  operation  is  extremely  laborious."  Dr.  Robinson,  p.  541  also 
remarks  :  "  The  Shaduf  ha.s  a  toilsome  occupation.  His  instrument  is 
exactly  the  well-sweep  of  New  England  in  miniature,  supported  by  a 
cross-piece  resting  on  two  upright  pouts  of  wood  or  mud.  His  bucket  is 
of  leather  or  wicker-work.    Two  of  these  instruments  are  usually  fixed 


296  NOTES. 

side  by  side,  and  the  men  keep  time  at  tlieir  work,  raising  the  water 
five  or  six  feet.  "Where  the  banks  are  higher,  two,  three,  and  even 
four  couples  are  thus  employed,  one  above  another." 

P.  i^37.  Oxen  iDcre  used  in  Egypt  for  threshing.  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,  in 
his  2d  Ser.,  Vol.  1.,  p.  85seq.,  gives  engravings  and  a  description  of 
this  same  scene  at  Elethya.  His  interpretation  of  the  hieroglyphics 
differs,  however,  a  little  from  the  one  in  the  text,  which  is  taken  from 
Gliddon  :  "  Thresh  for  yourselves,  (twice  repeated,)  O  oxen,  thresh 
for  yourselves,  (twice,)  measures  for  yourselves,  measures  for  your 
masters,"  The  same  author  also  remarks,  that  similar  songs  may  be 
found  on  the  sculptured  tombs  of  Upper  Egypt. — In  this  sam.e  con- 
nection, it  is  said,  that  wheat  and  barley  were  abundantly  cultivated 
in  every  part  of  Egypt,  and  that  the  former  was  harvested  in  about 
five  and  the  latter  in  about  four  months  after  sowing.  Compare  Ex.  9: 
31,  32,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  plague  did  not  smite  the  wheat, 
because  it  was  later ;  and  also  p.  123  of  this  volume.  In  Gen.  41:  22, 
we  read,  "seven  ears  came  up  in  one  stalk."  Among  the  kinds  of 
wheat  in  Egypt,  according  to  Wilkinson,  "  the  seven-eared  qual- 
ity" may  be  mentioned.  "It  was  cropped  a  little  below  the  ear," 
hence  the  Israelites  could  obtain  straw  or  stubble  for  their  brick,  from 
the  fields,  when  it  was  not  furnished  by  their  task-masters, 

P.  238.  In  Ex.  25:  12  seq.,  among  other  directions  with  regard  to 
the  construction  of  the  ark,  it  is  said :  "  And  thou  shalt  cast  four 
rings  of  gold  for  it,  and  put  them  in  the  four  corners  thereof:  and 
two  rings  sliall  be  in  the  one  side  of  it,  and  two  rings  in  the  other 
side  of  it.  And  thou  shalt  make  staves  of  shittim-wood,  and  overlay 
them  with  gold.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  staves  into  the  rings  by  the 
sides  of  the  ark,  that  the  ark  may  be  borne  with  them."  And  it  is 
seen  from  1  Chron.  15:  2,  15,  that  "the  Levites  bare  the  ark  on  their 
shoulders."  The  similarity  between  this  construction  of  the  ark  and 
the  manner  of  moving  it,  and  the  procession  of  shrines  among  the 
Egyptians,  is  too  striking  to  be  passed  unnoticed.  "  One  of  the  most 
important  ceremonies,"  says  W  i  1  k  i  n  s  o  n,  "was  '  the  procession 
of  shrines,'  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Rosctta  Stone,  and  is  frequent- 
ly represented  on  the  walls  of  the  temples.  The  shrines  were  of  two 
kinds :  the  one  a  sort  of  canopy  ;  the  other  an  ark  or  sacred  boat, 
which  may  be  termed  the  great  shrine.  This  was  carried  with  grand 
pomp  by  the  priests,  a  certain  number  being  selected  for  that  duty, 
who,  supporting  it  on  their  shoulders  by  means  of  long  staves,  passing 


NOTES.  297 

through  metal  rings  at  the  side  of  the  sledge  on  which  it  stood, 
brought  it  into  the  temple,  where  it  was  placed  upon  a  stand  or  table, 
in  order  that  the  prescribed  ceremonies  might  be  performed  before  it. 
The  stand  was  also  carried  in  the  procession  by  another  set  of  priests, 
following  the  shrine,  by  means  of  similar  staves ;  a  method  usually 
adopted  for  transporting  large  statues  and  sacred  emblems,  too  heavy 
or  too  important  to  be  borne  by  one  person." 

P.  241.  Manetho  and  the  Hycsos.  The  reasonings  of  our  author 
upon  the  trustworthiness  of  Manetho,  and  the  existence  of  the  Hyc- 
sos, seem  to  us  to  partake  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  special  plead- 
ing. Ke  may  be  right,  but  we  are  not  yet  prepared  to  discard  the  tes- 
timony of  those  who  are  best  qualified  to  judge  in  this  matter.  It  is 
true,  it  must  be  very  pleasant  for  those  engaged  in  deciphering  Iiiero- 
glyphics,  to  find  their  results  verified  by  an  ancient  author  ;  but  can 
it  be  supposed  tliat  such  men  as  Sir  J.  G.  Wilkinson,  C  h  a  m  - 
pollion,  Rosellini,  and  other  Egyptian  archaeologists,  are  all 
deceived  by  this  feeling.''  Their  belief,  as  far  as  known,  is  uniform. 
Wilkinson  (Vol.  I.  p.  38)  says  :  "■  From  the  preceding  extracts  of 
INIanetho,  as  from  other  passages  in  his  work,  it  appears  reasonable  to 
conclude  that  Egypt  was  at  one  time  invaded  and  occupied  by  a  power- 
ful Asiatic  people,  who  held  the  country  in  subjection ;  and  viceroys 
being  appointed  to  govern  it,  these  obtained  the  title  of  Pastor  or 
Shepherd  Kings.  I  have  already  shown  there  is  authority  for  be- 
lieving this  event  to  have  taken  place  in  the  early  periods  of  Egyptian 
history,  previous  to  the  era  of  Osirtasen  the  First."  He  also  says 
(p.  23)  :  "  1  am,  therefore,  of  opinion  that  the  irruption  of  the  Pastors 
was  anterior  to  the  erection  of  any  building  now  extant  in  Egypt,  and 
long  before  the  accession  of  the  seventeenth  dynasty."  Although 
Hengstenberg  has  given  us  the  view  of  Rosellini,  we  cannot  for- 
bear to  quote  a  few  lines  from  Mr.  G  lid  don,  who  is  supposed  to 
agree  in  opinion  with  that  author.  We  do  it  the  more  readily  as  the 
passage  shows  the  imperfect  state  in  which  Manetho  is  handed  down 
to  us,  and  thus  answers  some  of  the  objections  of  our  author. — "  This 
great  work  (of  Manetho)  has  been  lost;  and  the  re-discovery  of  one 
copy  of  Manetho  would  be  the  most  desirable  and  satisfactory  event 
that  could  be  conceived  in  Egyptian,  and  we  may  add,  in  universal 
history  and  chronology.  As  the  work  of  an  Egyptian,  testifying  the 
glory  of  his  nation,  it  was  probably  conscientiously  prepared  ;  although 
he  may  have  allowed  national  pride  to  give  a  too  partial  coloring  to 
his  narration,  and  possibly  an  exaggerated  view  of  his  country's  an- 


298.  NOTES. 

tiquity .  But  we  can  no  longer  be  harsh  in  our  criticisms  ;  seeing,  that 
to  his  sixteenth  dynasty  he  is  confirmed  by  the  sculptures^  wliile  every 
new  step  of  discovery  that  is  made  in  hieroglyphics,  gives  some  new 
confirmatory  light  in  support  of  Manetho's  earlier  arrangement. 
Again,  because  we  have  only  mutilated  extracts  of  his  original ;  one, 
a  fragment  preserved  by  Josephus,  which  seems  to  have  been  copied, 
verbatim,  from  Manetho's  work;  another  is  an  abstract  in  the  chro- 
nology of  Syncellus,  who  did  not  even  see  the  original  book  himself, 
but  embodied  in  his  compilation  the  extracts  he  found  in  Julius  Afri- 
canus  and  Eusebius.  Within  the  last  few  years,  the  discovery  of  an 
Armenian  version  of  Eusebius,  has  added  some  better  readings  to  those 
we  formerly  possessed.  These  writers,  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and  Ju- 
lius Africanus,  differ  so  much  from  each  other  in  the  several  portions 
of  Manetho's  history  of  which  they  present  the  extracts,  that,  in  their 
time,  either  great  errors  had  crept  into  the  then-existing  copies  of  Ma- 
netho,  or  one  or  more  of  them  were  corrupted  by  design  ;  especially 
in  the  instance  of  Eusebius,  who  evidently  suppressed  some  parts,  and 
mutilated  others,  to  make  Manetho,  by  a  pious  fraud,  conform  to  his 
own  peculiar  and  contracted  system  of  cosmogony .''  The  absence  of 
all  indications  of  the  Hycsos  on  the  monuments  is  accounted  for, 
as  is  seen,  by  Wilkinson,  from  the  antiquity  of  their  irruption. 
If,  (as  Rosellini  supposes,)  they  ruled  Lower  Egypt,  while  the 
seventeenth  dynasty  of  Theban  kings  reigned  in  Upper  Egypt,  it  is 
not  certain  that  monuments  of  them  may  not  yet  be  found.  It  is  also 
not  strange  that  no  mention  is  made  of  the  Hycsos  in  the  Bible  ;  for 
the  lineage  of  the  Pharaohs,  under  whom  they  lived,  would  be  of  little 
consequence  to  the  Jews. 

P.  241.  Gods  and  dcmi-gods  who  ruled  Egypt  before  men.  Ac- 
cording to  ancient  writers,  the  Egyptians  claimed  to  have  been  ruled 
first  by  the  gods  or  Auritae  and  then  by  the  demi-gods  or  Mestrae- 
ans,  who  were  succeeded  by  Menes,  the  first  hum.an  king.  But 
Wilkinson  says,  there  are  positive  grounds  for  the  conviction 
that  no  Egyptian  deity  was  supposed  to  have  lived  on  the  earth  ;  even 
the  story  of  Osiris's  rule  in  this  world  was  purely  allegorical  and  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  most  profound  and  curious  mystery  of  their 
religion.  It  is  probable  that  the  earliest  government  of  the  country 
was  a  hierarchy,  and  the  succession  of  the  different  gods  to  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  country  would  then  be  explained  by  that  of  the  re- 
spective colleges  of  priests.  "  The  Egyptians  justly  ridiculed  the 
Greeks    for   pretending  to   derive  their  origin   from  deities.     They 


•^'r 


NOTES.  299 

showed  Hccatseus  and  Herodotus  a  series  of  three  hundred  and  forty- 
five  high-priests,  each  of  whom,  they  observed,  was  '  a  man,  son  of  a 
man,'  but  in  no  instance  the  descendant  of  a  god  :'  thus  censuring 
the  folly  of  Hecataeus,  who  claimed  a  deity  as  his  sixteenth  ancestor. 
Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  expression  in  Herodotus,  '  a  piromis,  son 
of  a  piromis:'  and  it  is  singular  that  the  historian  should  not  have 
understood  the  signification  of  the  word  romi,  (man,  or  piromi,  the 
man,)  as  the  sense  alone  suffices  to  point  it  out." — Wil/cinson, 
Vol,  1.  p.  17. 

P.  250.  Letter  to  Ptolemy  PhiJadelphus.  This  letter  is  given  entire 
as  found  in  the  Latin  version  of  the  Chronographiaof  Syncellus  p.  73. 

"Ad  Ptolemaeum  Philadelphum  Manethonis  Sebennytae  epistola  : 

Ptolemaeo  Philadelplio  regi  magno  iYugusto  Manetho  sacerdos  et 
sacroruin  per  Aegyptum  penetralium  notarius,  gencre  Sebennyta, 
urbe  Heliopoli,  domino  meo  Ptolemaeo  salutem. 

De  rebus  omnibus  nobis  tuo  iussu,  rex  magne,propositis  attente  cogit- 
andum  est.  Hac  de  causa  interroganti  tibi  de  iis  quae  mundo  accident, 
quaeque  ex  libris  ab  primogenitore  tuo  ter  magno  Mercurio  conscriptis 
mihi  sunt  nota,  prout  imperasti,  cuncta  manifestabuntur.  Vale  mihi, 
domine  mi  rex. 

P.  258.  Tf  Sesostris  is  really  identical  with  this  Remeses  III.,  the 
error,  etc.  Wilkinson  obviates  this  difficulty  (Vol.  I.  p.  63,  64)  : 
"  Osirei  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Remeses  the  Great,  who  bore  the 
name  of  Amun-mai-Pveineses,  or  Remeses-mi-amun,  and  was  reputed 
to  be  the  famous  Sesostris  of  antiquity.  The  origin  of  the  confusion 
regarding  Sesostris  may  perhaps  be  explained.  He  is  mentioned  by 
Manetho  in  the  twelfth  dynasty,  and  Herodotus  learned  that  he  pre- 
ceded the  builders  of  the  pyramids  :  f  therefore  suppose  that  Sesostris 
was  an  ancient  king  famed  for  his  exploits,  and  the  hero  of  early 
Egyptian  history  ;  but  that  after  Remeses  had  surpassed  them,  and 
become  the  favorite  of  his  country,  the  renown  and  name  of  the  for- 
mer monarch  were  transferred  to  the  more  conspicuous  hero  of  a  later 
age  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  when  Germanicus  went  to  Egypt,  the 
Thebans  did  not  mention  Sesostris,  but  Rhamsos,  as  the  king  who  had 
performed  the  glorious  actions  ascribed  in  olden  times  to  their  great 
conqueror.  Nothing,  however,  can  justify  the  supposition  that  Se- 
sostris, or,  as  Diodorus  calls  him,  Sesoosis,  is  the  Shishak  of  Scrip- 
ture." 


300  NOTES. 

P.  26S.  .Q  tribe  of  Scythian  nomades.  WMkinson  too  sup- 
poses they  were  Scythians.  "The  Pastor  race,  called  Hycsos  or 
Shepherd  Kings,  appear  to  have  been  the  first  to  follow  the  example 
of  the  early  Asiatic  invaders ;  and  though  the  period  and  history  of 
their  conquest  are  involved  in  obscurity,  it  is  evident  that  they  en- 
tered Egypt  from  the  side  of  Syria,  and  that  they  obtained  for  some 
years  a  firm  footing  in  the  country,  possessing  themselves  of  Lower 
Egypt,  with  a  portion  of  the  Thebaid,  and  perhaps  advancing  to 
Thebes  itself.  I  at  first  supposed  them  to  ha-ve  come  from  Assyria ; 
but  on  more  mature  consideration  have  been  disposed,  as  already 
stated,  to  consider  them  a  Scythian  tribe,  whos^  nomade  habits  accord 
more  satisfactorily  with  the  character  of  a  pastor  race,  and  whose  fre- 
quent inroads  at  early  periods  into  other  countries  show  the  power 
they  possessed,  as  well  as  their  love  of  invasion,  which  were  con- 
tinued till  a  late  time,  and  afterwards  imitated  by  their  successors^ 
the  Tartar  hordes  of  Central  Asia."— Sec.  Ser.  Vol.  1.  p.  2. 


ERRATA. 

Page    4,  for  Egypt  read  Palestine. 
"     10,    "     Reaurner  read   Reaumur. 
"    10,    *'    XVI  read  XIV. 
"    79,    "    Bedouins  read  Bcdaicin. 
"  102,     "    Haie  read  Haje. 
"  211,  (last  line,)  for  Cunana  read  Canaan. 


00040 


2240 


fi/Unj..  -^v^^U^ 


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